Cooler Than Me
by 95Riley
Summary: Modern AU. Anna and her family just moved to Arendelle. In her new high school, she becomes curious about the mysterious blonde loner with a strange past and why she has a certain number sewed into all her clothing. Maybe she thinks she's that great or it's something more. Elsanna
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen, nor any of its characters. I also do not own the cover. This fanfic was written for fun and nothing more.**

* * *

"_It's time to begin, isn't it?_

_I get a little bit bigger, but then I'll admit_

_I'm just the same as I was"_

_It's Time -Imagine Dragons_

* * *

_So it's gonna be forever, or it's gonna go down in flames._

_You can tell me when it's over, if the high was worth the pain._

I groaned at the sound of that annoying catchy song. I moved my hand under my pillow to turn it off, but I couldn't find my phone. Then it hit me that I left it on the other side of the room last night so I wouldn't fall victim to my laziness. _Damn you Anna of the past_. I opened my eyes and immediately slide the covers over my head to shield myself from the bright light. The damn song was still playing. I better get it before my mother or my sister barged in on me.

But my bed was so warm and comfortable. I couldn't just leave it. But I must.

Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes and let them adjust. I was such a wuss when it came to that, it wasn't even that bright in here. It was pretty dark and the curtains were keeping that yellow enemy away from me. Once that ache behind my eyes subsided, I yawned loudly and proudly.

I started walking over to my phone and tripped into a pile of dirty clothes and candy wrappers. I sighed. _The struggle_. I got up and checked myself for any cuts, but thankfully there was none. Then I went and turned the alarm off. I checked the time and it was 7:03 am. Still too early. When I go to college, classes will be at 10.

I scratched my unruly mane and looked around the garbage dump I dared call my room. I shrugged. I'll clean it when I get home from school, when I have free time. But then again, that's what I said yesterday, and the day before that, and last week, and the week before that, and the month before that... I'm so lazy. Good thing my mom hasn't been up here in forever. That was some drama I didn't need.

"Anna!", I heard my sister's voice on the other side of my door. "Are you up yet? I don't want to be late."

"Yeah, I'm up.", I replied. Then the door opened and my sister came in. She must have been up for the past hour or something. She had on that freaking gray Lion King shirt she didn't stop whining about until she got it and black skinny jeans. The only thing out of place was her messy red hair. But at least she didn't the horrid bed hair I had.

She scoff and stared at me in disbelief. "Did you barely get up?", Always with the obvious questions.

"No.", I lied and she smiled wickedly.

"Oh Mom-", I quickly rushed forward and covered her mouth.

"Don't you dare!", I whispered into her ear and shut the door to my room.

"Why not? It's funny when you get in trouble.", She giggled. "Give a reason why I shouldn't call Mom up to see you barely getting ready and your room still a mess."

"Because I'm your big sister who you love and respect too much?", I said barely containing my smile and she laughed.

"Yeah right.", She chuckled.

"And because you don't want Mom to know about that guy 'friend' you had last year.", Her eyes widen and she turned red. _Got ya_.

"You suck.", She said and stuck out her tongue. "Let's just keep quiet alright?"

"Alright.", I agreed. "So why are you here?", I asked.

"Oh, I came to borrow your straightener.", She said and pointed to her red messy hair.

"What happened to yours?", I narrowed my eyes and she rolled hers.

"I may or may not have broken it.", She said her teal eyes not meeting mine.

"Okay little Alice. If you can find it in this mess, then you can borrow it.", I said to her and her jaw dropped at the thought of having to search for it in this mess. "Good luck!", I said as I left the room to shower before she could protest.

Once I was in the bathroom, I turned on the hot water and began stripping of my green shorts and white tank top. After making sure the water was right I got in. Even on summers, I loved taking hot showers. I massaged my scalp as the warm water ran down my body. The water felt so good. I could stay in here all day if they let be. _Knock knock knock_.

"What?", I called as I shampooed my hair.

"Anna I'm coming in.", Alice said on the other side.

"Alright.", I said as I started rinsing my hair of the soap. Alice and I didn't really care if one of us came while one of us was in the shower, just so long as the other knocked first before doing so. That was the important unspoken rule. We've had enough embarrassing encounters to last a life time.

Alice came in and began brushing her teeth. I could hear her. I was now conditioning my hair. Then the water started turning cold. They must have used up the hot water while I was asleep. But then it got colder. Too cold!

It was then that I realized what was happening. "Alice!"

"Sorry, I forgot.", Alice said laughing. She turned the hot water from the sink off and the water on my end got warm again. I highly doubted she forgot again, but I wasn't in the mood to question her. She was so annoying sometimes. Especially when she does it on purpose.

"Okay, I'm leaving.", Alice said as I heard her shut the door. When I was done showering, I peeked out the curtain just to make sure. When I saw the coast was clear, I got out, wrapped a towel around myself and rushed to my room.

Once in the safety of my room, I locked the door and threw the towel down. I got my clothes and put them on. They consisted of a green blouse, jeans, and black converse. I quickly grabbed my blow dryer and turned it on. Thankfully, it didn't take too long.

I brushed my hair and then debated whether or not, I should leave it down or put it up. Decisions decisions. After two painfully long minutes, I decided to leave it down today. I grabbed my backpack and made sure I had my binder, paper, mechanical pencils in there. I didn't want to be that loser in school who comes unprepared and then bugs others to for stuff. It gets annoying sometimes. Especially when it's the same person over and over again.

I checked my phone for the time and saw that it was now 7:32 am. Whoa, that's a new record for getting ready. I looked in the mirror one last time before I headed downstairs.

Alice was on the table eating a pop tart while my mom was on the table drinking coffee. My mom had her brown hair in a bun in the back of her head, and she was already dressed in her professional outfit, ready to go. It's moments like these that makes me guilty for sleeping in.

"Good morning Mom!", I said brightly as I hugged her.

"Morning sweet heart.", She said. "Want me to drive you?", She asked.

"Um...", I thought about it. "What do you think Alice?"

"I would be nice if she took us to school.", She said in between bites. "At least for today until I can trust Anna behind the wheel.", She added with a smirk on her face.

"Well aren't you a smartass.", I said.

"Seriously Anna, don't talk to your sister like that!", My mom said. "When did it become acceptable in society to use rude language?"

"You know what Mom? You're right, I promise not to talk like that in front of little Alice again.", I said smirking at Alice.

"I'm fifteen.", Alice grunted.

"Yes, fifteen miserable years of my life that I'll never get back.", I added.

"You're the one to talk.", She said with a smile that reached her eyes. "I've had to deal with you my whole life."

"Alright girls, that's enough.", Mom said. "Let's get going or we will all be late.

* * *

Arendelle South High School. That was the name of our new school. Well, new to us. Alice and I just moved here to Arendelle at the beginning of the summer. It looked like a nice school. It was three stories high. I've never gone to school that had stairs inside. Wonder if anyone's ever fallen. If not, then I sure hope I won't be the first. Did I mention I'm clumsy? Gravity has it out for me, I swear.

My sister and I were in the office waiting to get our schedules. We were supposed to get them last week, but we were 'busy'. Yeah, let's go with that. My mom was at work. Alice was busy with a horror movie marathon. I was with her at first, but then it got too gory for my taste. I like a good serial killer movie as much as the next person, but someone needs to tell the directors that blood and guts doesn't equal scary, it just disgusts me. Because of that, I left and Alice wouldn't stop calling me chicken. That little bitch. I spent the remainder of the day finishing _My Sister's Keeper._ The ending was even more sad than the one in the movie.

"Anna and Alice Anderson, Mrs. Parker will see you now.", The lady behind the computer called. I nodded and got up. Alice followed in suite. The door to Mrs. Parker's office was opened.

"Come in.", A kind voice called from behind. I took a deep breath and entered. The first thing I noticed was that the walls were covered in papers. They ranged from academic posters, to important looking ones. Her desk was nice, but looked messy as well. I couldn't blame her. I heard that the first two weeks of school are the hardest for the school. "Please take a seat.", She said. Alice and I sat next to each other in front of her.

Mrs. Parker looked kind of young for her job. She looked about maybe twenty-five. Her black hair was down with curled ends. Her brown eyes had a warm look to them. She looked pretty, but at the same time professional and relaxed. That's a combination you don't see quiet often. She was dressed in a gray that made her tan skin stand out. She had two folders in front her.

"Let's get to business shall we?", She said smiling. "First off, welcome to Arendelle. And welcome to Arendelle South High School."

"Thank you.", I said and nudged Alice to do the same.

"I'm sure you want to get to class already, so I'll be brief.", She clapped her hands together. "So everything is in order and they're nothing to worry about.", With that, she handed me my schedule. And then she handed Alice hers.

"If there's anything out of the ordinary, please let me know.", Mrs. Parker paused. "If not, then enjoy your first day of school."

"Thank you.", I said as we left her office. "We'll be sure to let you know."

After we exited, we were in the hallway filled with students. It was kind of wild, but in an exciting kind of way.

"You ready little Freshy", I asked Alice.

"Seriously Anna!", She exclaimed. "I'm a sophomore now."

"Okay, okay.", I said. "I suppose the seniors can't eat you alive."

"You kidding me. More like that they're going to eat you new girl.", She giggled. "You're gonna be surrounded by them Senior Citizen."

"Senior Citizen?", I asked. "How original.", I laughed. The bell then ranged and everybody started rushing around. It is wasn't wild before, it was now.

I looked at my schedule to find that I had AP Literature first period. Alice had Art II. I took out my map of the school. If I was reading it correctly, then I had it on the third floor. Alice had hers on the second floor.

With that, we started walking up the stairs. "Hey Anna?"

"Yeah?", I asked at her sudden seriousness.

"If by any chance, I don't have anyone to sit with at lunch, can I sit with you?", She asked not looking at me.

"I'm sure you'll make friends you little social freak.", I chuckled. "But sure, if that happens, you can sit with me."

"Cool, thanks sis.", She said as she left to her classroom. I smiled after her. Alice was so annoying and bitchy at times, but at other times, she was she so cute and little.

I snapped out of it, I headed up the stairs. I was getting tired as I walked up. When I was up, I realized I didn't know the room number. I sighed and speed walked, or should I say ran, as I searched my backpack for my schedule.

And because I'm idiot, I freaking ran someone over. I landed on top, so I didn't get hurt. Hopefully the person I ran over didn't get hurt, but that's a long run. I opened my eyes and all I see is the number 19. I saw that it was a navy blue color and it was sewed into the girl's black shirt. I wanted to touch it, but that would be very inappropriate considering it was on her left breast. I blushed when I came to senses and got up.

"I'm so sorry.", I quickly apologized and held out my hand to help her up. That's when I got a good look at her. She had a long sleeve black shirt and black jeans and blue converse. White gloves covering her hands, which was weird because it's freaking hot outside. Her hair was a pale blonde, almost white and it was done in a pun in the back of her head. She was also really pale as well, like she hadn't gone outside her whole life. Considering her coloring, I was going to assume that her eyes might be blue. I couldn't see them as she was wearing black shades. She was actually very pretty. I almost wanted to take her shades so I could see her whole face, but I fought that urge.

She sat up and frowned when she saw my hand next to her face. She pushed herself away from me with her legs and then pushed herself off the ground without using her hands. _Someone does their workouts_, I thought to myself. She didn't even look in my direction when she picked up her dark blue backpack and walked away without another word around the corner. I didn't need to be a mind reader to know that she already disliked me and school hasn't even officially started yet.

"Just my luck.", I mumbled as I looked for my classroom. When I found it, I took a deep breath before walking in. It was a rather small class. It looked about twenty students, me including. Despite this, all the seats were filled. There was one in the back unoccupied. And it was right next to..._Are you shitting me?!_

That rude platinum blonde from earlier sitting there with a bored expression. If she noticed me, she gave no sign of it. She was staring into the wall next to her with her earphones on. I reluctantly sat next to her. Then the final bell rang and the teacher got up and introduced himself. Then he made everyone stand up and introduced themselves to the class. Everyone seemed at ease here, and it was contagious because I wasn't nervous when I was up.

"My name is Anna Anderson.", I smiled and then sat back down. Then it was the blonde's turn. But she didn't get up.

"Um Miss? Your turn", The teacher said to her and she got up. "Please take those off dearie, we're in class.", He said nicely. The girl sighed and took off earphones. I could hear a faint drum beat, but I couldn't put my finger on it. She then hesitantly brought her hands up to her face and removed her shades.

I half-expected her to have a black eye or something of the sort, but she didn't. She looked completely normal. Well, as normal as her pretty face could be. She had faint light freckled on top of her nose and on those cheekbones of hers. Her eye make up made her eyes stand out. They were a rich bright blue. It suited her very well. Why did she hide them? She looks great. Apparently I wasn't the only who thought so. In the corner of my eye, I saw that she had everyone's attention.

"My name is Elsa Macbeth.", She said with the voice of an angel and sat back down. The teacher nodded and then started passing out packets of paper. Everyone's eyes were still on Elsa. Slowly everyone started minding their own business. Seems to me like it's rare for this girl to talk.

"Alright everyone, I didn't make enough copies, so you'll all have to share with the person sitting next to you.", He said.

This day just keeps getting better and better, I thought as he handed the packet to Elsa. I half-expected Elsa to be a selfish bitch and hog it, but she just handed it to me and brought her head down on the desk, facing away from me. This was the most awkward moment of my life. And that's really saying something. I poked her shoulder and she didn't move.

If she doesn't want to work with me, then so be it. I began reading the packet, which was a boring information on _The Scarlet Letter_. It ranged from themes, to plot twist, to huge freaking spoilers. There goes my reader surprise.

After forever, the bell rang and we were dismissed. The blonde was the first one out. As I was going out, someone poked my shoulder. I turned to find that huge blond guy from class. I forgot his name though.

"Hi.", He said cheerfully. "I'm Kristopher Bjorgman. But I go by Kristoff.", He held out his hand.

I took it. "I'm Anna Anderson. And I go by Anna.", I chuckled.

"You're not from around here, are you?", He asked.

"Guilty as charged.", I answered. "Are you a native here?"

"Yep, born and raise here.", He said proudly. "What do you have next?"

"I believe I have Government.", I answered.

"In room 415?", He asked and I saw hope in his eyes.

I looked at my paper. "That's the one."

"Cool.", He said. "Want to walk together?"

"I'll love to.", I smiled. We kept talking as we walked there. Kristoff was a very nice guy. Which was awesome, because so far, all the men in life have been complete assholes. Government class was lame but at the same time interesting.

* * *

Lunch came, and I was with Kristoff getting lunch. All I got were two sandwiches and a red powerade. The cafeteria was crowded, but thankfully Kristoff's friends had a table already saved. From the looks of it there were two people. We sat in front of them.

"Anyway, Anna. This is my best pal Steve Rogers aka Captain America.", He nudged the boy in front of him. He was tall and skinny with shaggy brown hair. He was wearing a blue shirt with the Captain America shield in the middle and had on hipster looking glasses. I laughed when he rolled his eyes at Kristoff.

"He's been telling that one since we were in kindergarten. Thought I was his hero.", Steve laughed. "Nice to meet you Anna." He held out his hand and I took it.

"Steve and I go way back.", Kristoff said happily. "We call him Sven every now and then, but Captain America sounds cooler."

"And Anna this is Marshall Snow.", He gestured to the girl next to Steve. She had her black hair in a pony tail, her bangs leaning toward the left. She was wearing a lot of black eye liner that made her gray eyes stand out. Her gray eyes were inspecting me, looking I guess to see if I was worth her trouble. It was kind of intense, but then she just shrugged and smiled brightly.

"Nice to meet you.", She held out her hand and I shook it. "It'll be nice to have another girl to talk to instead of these two pigs here.", Her eyes motioned to Kristoff and Steve.

"Hey!", They said simultaneously. Marshall and I laughed.

Then in the corner of my eye I saw saw dark red hair. I looked and saw Alice laughing with a group of girls who looked about maybe her age. We made eye contact and smiled. _I think I'm gonna like this school._

I think I spoke too soon because then I saw her walking in. Shades on, book in hand, and earphones on. She took a seat in the empty table in the corner by herself. She must have sensed eyes on her, because her head shot to my direction with a frown on her face. And I quickly looked away and moved myself to that Marshall's head would block my view of her and her view of me. _What's her deal?_

* * *

**A/N: To continue or to not continue. That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to take on a responsibility on top of many others, or to delete the mistake before it should take flight. And by deleting, end it.**


	2. Chapter 2

"_Try to find out what makes you tick as I lie down_

_Sore and sick, do you like that? Do you like that that?"_

_The Dairy of Jane -Breaking Benjamin_

* * *

Once Elsa was not in my line of vision, I turned to the little group in the table. It was cool how they all seemed at ease with each other. It wasn't hard to fit in with them.

"So Anna, where did you moved from?", Marshall asked as I took a bite of my awesome sandwich. It was a little dry, but who cares. Sandwiches are the greatest, no question about it.

"I moved here from San Francisco.", I said when I had swallowed.

"Whoa! San Francisco!", Steve exclaimed. "I've always wanted to go there!"

"It's not that great.", I shrugged. "It's too crowded, you can't have your own car because good luck finding somewhere to park, the buses are freaking dirty, I once found a week old vomit in the back seat, and then there's a lot of homeless people. Not that I have a problem with them, but they just almost always ask for money. And the creepy ones ask your phone number. Who the hell does that?"

"My opinion does not change.", Steve said crossing his arms. "I would still like to go there."

"Don't get me wrong, it's a very nice and beautiful place.", I said quickly. "But only if you live in the nice side of it."

"I guess you're right.", Sven said. "So why did you moved to Arendelle of all places? Most people want to move _out_ of Arendelle."

"My mom got a promotion at work that required us to move here.", I said. "It's a nice break from the city chaos. You could easily get lost if you don't know where you're going."

"That's cool, what does she do?", Marshall asked as she took a bite of her pizza.

"I'm gonna be honest with you. I really don't know.", I said. I never really wondered exactly what it was she did. "I know she works in an office. Secretary I think, but I wouldn't know for sure."

"What about your dad?", Steve asked. As I was about to take another bite, I put my sandwich down. My sandwich didn't appeal so much to me anymore. And neither did my powerade.

"Let's just say my dad's not around and leave it at that.", I said looking down. My dad was a touchy subject. Even when I didn't want it to be.

"Oh, I'm sorry.", Steve apologized. "Hope I didn't trigger anything, did I?"

"Don't worry about it. It's fine.", I said quietly. "I just don't like talking about him."

"So any siblings, or are you an only child?", Marshall directed the conservation away from my dad and I was grateful for that.

"It's just me and my little sister Alice. She's the redhead in the gray shirt over there.", I pointed over to Alice, who was currently on her phone texting who knows who.

"She's cute.", Kristoff commented.

"Annoying as fuck more like it. But yeah, she's cute once you get passed that.", I agreed and then narrowed my eyes at him at what he had said. "And she's off limits.", I think it came out like a threat. Hope he doesn't take it the wrong way.

Kristoff chuckled and put his hands up in surrender. "Don't worry about me. I make a point to not date girls who are not in our grade."

"Thank you.", I said. I really didn't want to see the emotional mess that Alice was last year. It was so god damn annoying. I swear if any guy comes on to her, I'm gonna scare them away. "So do you guys have any siblings?"

"I have two older sisters.", Steve said as he cleaned his glasses. "But they're like seven years older than me."

"I have a ten year old brother.", Marshall said with a smile. "He's still super adorable. And nosy when I don't want him to.", She wrinkled her nose of that the thought of that.

"Tell me about it.", I said. "This one time I caught Alice reading my texts messages."

"Olaf, my brother did that as well this one time.", Marshall laughed. "Let's just say he wasn't the same for almost a week after."

"I'm an only child.", Kristoff slumped in his chair, but then smiled. "That's why Captain America here has been my hero."

"Yes the hero who can't see without his glasses.", Marshall teased and I laughed.

"Hey!", Steve protested as he set his glasses back on his head.

"First off Marshall, the Captain needs his glasses so the Red Skull won't recognize him.", Kristoff said smiling. "Hero disguise 101."

"Speaking Red Skull.", Marshall said in a serious tone. "Have you guys seen that asshole?"

"I don't think he came in today.", Kristoff said and put his arms across his chest. "If he tries anything, I'll just beat his sorry ass again."

"Who's the asshole you speak of?", I asked.

"Oh right. You're still new.", Kristoff said. "He's just the spineless school bully."

"His name is Hans West.", Marshall informed me. "And he's a real charmer, but don't fall for his phoniness. He's as terrible as they come."

"Stay away from Hans West. Got it.", I said as I made the mental note.

"Looks like we have about ten minutes left.", Steve said as he checked his his watch.

"So what do you have next?", Marshall asked me.

"I have Chemistry on the third floor.", I answered. After the whole Elsa encounter, I had memorized my schedule during break.

"Well that sucks.", Kristoff said. "We all have ours on the ground floor."

"Don't worry.", I chuckled. "I'm not one of those girls who can't walk to their classes without a friend."

"That's nice. Thought I was the only one.", Marshall smiled at me. "No wait, I guess Elsa counts too."

As soon as I heard that name, I remembered the blonde in table in the corner. I glanced at her table to find no one but her on it. She was just reading with her shades on again. _Does she ever take those off?_ Like seriously, we're indoors.

"What's Elsa's deal?", Hope that didn't sound creepy of me. Or stalky. Which it kind of was.

"Nothing much to her.", Kristoff shrugged. "Other than that she's pretty obsessed with that number on her chest and she likes to be alone."

"What do you mean obsessed?", I asked, as I thought back to that 19. I sneaked another glance. That blue number was bright on her black shirt. If you were to see her for the first time, that number was the first thing that will catch your attention. It was the first thing I noticed about her. Then again, that was my only view of her when we fell.

"What he means is that she wears that number on all her clothes.", Steve said, taking his glasses off to clean them again. "Damn, I can never clean these enough.", He murmured to himself before turning back to me. "It's usually in blue, but sometimes, it's in white or black."

"Why does she wear it?", I asked. I honestly couldn't come with any reasons for it. Maybe it represented something important to her.

"I heard last semester that it was her age, but she's only seventeen.", Marshall shrugged as she drank her water.

"I heard from this dude in the library that's the age she's going to kill herself in.", Steve said.

"That's a lie. A suicidal person does not wait that long.", Kristoff argued with Steve. "They usually don't plan it. It just happens after something triggers them to do it."

"What, are you some suicide expert?", Steve challenged.

"No.", Kristoff said. "But my grandfather happens to be a psychologist."

"That's explains a lot.", Steve said.

"What's that supposed to mean?", Kristoff said narrowing his eyes.

"Oh nothing nothing, just that-", Steve started

"Alright, that's enough you two.", Marshall quieted them. "I really don't want the teachers or students overhearing your little argument about suicide. The high school rumor mill is a bitch."

"He started it!", They both said simultaneously and started laughing when they did.

"Steve we're synchronized!", Kristoff said. "Quick quick, what am I of thinking now."

"Oh oh.", Steve said quickly. "Um you're thinking about that hot villain chick from the original Superman II movie.", Steve said with hopeful eyes.

Kristoff groaned. "You're killing me Steve. The connection's now gone."

I turned to Marshall. "What are they...", I gestured to them.

"Don't pay attention to them, they're such idiots sometimes.", Marshall said shrugging. "Every time they say something at the same time, they try to read each other's minds, and always fail."

"Well now that Steve broke the connection...", Kristoff said smirking to Steve. "What were we talking about?"

"I believe we were sharing our theories on Elsa's number.", Marshall said.

"Oh yeah. I remember this guy from the team who told me it's the number of her many boyfriends.", Kristoff said.

"No way that's true. She doesn't date anybody.", Steve said. "No one's worthy of her attention.

"Well, she's pretty hot, so I wouldn't be surprised.", Kristoff said. "Maybe on a scale of 1 to 10, it's she's a 19."

"Okay, we're getting off topic here.", Marshall said. "This one girl told me, it's the number of pills she has to take everyday."

"Pills?", I asked. Why would Elsa need to take pills? Maybe she is suicidal if she has to take those.

"Yeah, I heard she's always coming late to fifth period from the nurse's office.", Marshall explained.

"I agree that she probably takes pills.", Steve said. "But nineteen, come on. Let's get real here, that would probably kill her."

"Steve, drug addicts can take inhuman doses.", Marshall argued.

"Yeah I know. It's called Over Dosing.", Steve said with a smug expression.

"Anyway.", Kristoff said before Marshall could say something back. "Point is, there's so many rumors and theories about why she wears that number and what is means. We could go on forever."

"True that.", Steve said.

"I agree. But in the end, no one knows for sure except Elsa herself.", Marshall said. "And maybe her brother, but I wouldn't count on it.", She added.

I was about to say something when the bell rang. I excused myself and made a stop for the restroom. I'll admit, I had a very small badder. And I kind of wanted to be alone with my thoughts and process all those wild rumors of Elsa. All those rumors were very unrealistic, but Elsa made them sound normal. I sighed heavily I guess the world may never know.

My restroom trip caused me to be late. Just like first period, the class was short, but filled. Except for two seats in the back. Deja vu slapped me in the face. _Weird,_ I thought as I took one of the seats.

"Alright everyone.", The teacher called out. "Welcome to another fantastic year and welcome to Chemistry."

He went to the board and spelled his name out. "My name is Mr. Oaken.", He paused as he gazed at each of us. "Okay, first thing's first, I hope you all love your seats because that's where you'll be all year long."

_Sweet!_ I like sitting in the back. I started to take out my school junk as the door opened. I looked behind me and my heart stopped. _What was she doing here?!_

"Hello Miss.", Mr. Oaken greeted her. "You're late. Do you have a pass or an excuse note?"

As I expected, the girl didn't say anything. She shook her head.

"Alright. You know what, don't worry about it.", Mr. Oaken said. "Just please don't be late again and take a seat next to...", He gestured to me.

"Anna.", I answered.

"Take a seat next to Anna.", He finished. Elsa nodded and took a seat next to me. "Please lose the shades, we're indoors.", He instructed.

She sighed and nodded. I watch from the corner of my eye as she folded them and put one of the arms of it on the inside of her black shirt.

I have Elsa for two classes and in both of them, I sit next to her. I shouldn't have mind it as much as I did. I mean the girl hasn't done anything, expect frown. And I deserved it. I freaking stampeded her before school started and I was sure as hell she'll have at least one bruise by tomorrow. But why did I care if she liked me or not? As far as I knew she wanted nothing to do with anyone, so not my problem.

"And another thing.", Mr. Oaken said as he set up his laptop. "I hope you all get along with the person next to you because you will be doing any and all project with that person and that person alone throughout the year."

I groaned inwardly. _So it is my problem_.

"Now, please take out some paper and something to write with. Copy now the information, this will be worth fifty points. And yes that's a lot. Please do well on your first assignment.", He said as he turned the lights off and started presenting a powerpoint.

It was mostly classroom rules and all that good stuff. It fine and all, but my hand got tired pretty fast. I groaned inwardly every time he turned to a new slide and saw tons of stuff to write. Why couldn't he just have given us a copy of this. _Because no one reads_, my subconscious answered. Throughout the whole time, Elsa was very silent. The only sound that came from her was the sound of her blue pen across the line paper she wrote on. If not for that, and the fact that I could see her next to me, I would've have assumed there was no one next to me.

When we finished, Mr. Oaken turned the lights back on. "Alright everyone. I hope you all understand what is expected of my class and that you will all follow the rules."

I put all my stuff away and I saw Elsa do the same. She was still wearing gloves. Why would she be wearing gloves. It's not cold. Did she have a scars or something? I once knew a guy who would always wear long sleeves to hide his burnt arm. But it didn't look too bad once he stopped hiding it. It actually made him look like a total badass. I think he got a girlfriend the next the month or so. He learned that chicks do dig scars.

"As soon as the bell rings, you are all excused.", Mr. Oaken said as he sat back down to his chair.

I turned to Elsa. Maybe I should say something since I was going to be with her the rest of the year. "Um Elsa?"

She continued to stare at the front of the classroom, completely ignoring me. But then I saw those dark blue earphones in her ears._ Had she had those this entire time?_

I took a deep breath and waved my hand in front of her face to get her attention. It worked. The blonde slowly turned to face me. It was kind of creepy how she did it. Kind of like a machine. I didn't like the way her eyes looked at me. It was like her sapphire blue eyes were giving me an x-ray. It was kind of intense, but I put those worries in the back of my head.

I opened my mouth to speak, but she took out her phone and unlocked it. She showed me the screen of it. It was on the volume control part. Making sure I had a clear view of it, she glided her gloved finger on the surface of the screen across. Turning the volume full blast. I could hear the faint drums from earlier. I stared at her face in confusion as she turned away, put the shades back on, and continued to stare ahead, her chin resting on her knuckles.

I felt a lump in my throat. It was both in anger and embarrassment. Her message was clear. She didn't want to listen to me. Didn't want to see me. Didn't want to be bothered by me. My eyes got watery. If you didn't know, I get teary when I'm _very_ angry. Nothing I could do about it. But I was able to hold all that anger in. Right now, I wanted to rip this girl's head off. _Does she think she's all that?_

_Who the hell does she think she is?_ I thought angrily as I glared at her ignoring me. I recalled the conservation I had with the others during lunch. Something that Steve had said, what was it? Then I remembered his words. _No one's worthy of her attention._ Did this bitch think she was too good to even listen to me.

I huffed in anger. I was about to tell her off, but was saved by the bell. Just like in first period, she was the first one out. I walked out of class and headed for the stairs. At least walking into the crowd of confused students allowed my anger to subside a little and I didn't feel like ripping her head off anymore. _Lucky her._

Now I had my final and least favorite of all classes. P.E. aka hell. I always get hurt in there, and sometimes others as well because of me. I really did try not to, but I'm just prone to it. Nothing I could do about it.

By the time I reached the locker room, but I wasn't as mad anymore. Which was good. I didn't want my blonde streak to get whiter. Alice made fun of me enough already. I walked into the locker room and searched my backpack for my clothes. What kind of sick school makes you dress out on the first day? It's pretty horrible. It means we're actually gonna do something. Once I found them, I quickly changed. I used to be shy about changing in front of others, but I did it once and it was no big deal. We're all grown ups here.

My P.E. outfit included a forest green T-shirt, black shorts, and tennis shoes. The shirt and shorts had the school logo and mascot. It had an image of a crocodile next to a crocus. I liked it. The tennis shoes were kind of new even though I got them two years ago. I hardly ever wore them because I never worked out much on my own. I was just your average lazy American.

I place all my things in my locker and then follow the other girls to the gym.

My teacher Mr. Smith was loud. What was it with gym teachers and their need to loud? I find Steve in here, dressed in the same outfit as me. I wanted to go over to him, but we aren't allowed to leave the role call order. I was in the front of the line and he was more towards the back. I did, however, waved at him and smiled. He did the same, pushing his hipster looking glasses up.

"Macbeth!", Mr. Smith yelled to someone across the gym.

_Macbeth?_ I knitted my eyebrows in concentration._ Where have I heard that before?_

"You're late!", He said to the I guess new coming student. I turned and my jaw dropped. _What the hell?!_

Elsa walked in with her hands in her pockets. Her outfit included black sweats, the equivalent of shorts, and that same black long sleeve she's been wearing all day.

"Now everyone has to run a lap around the track!", He said loud and shut all the mouths that were talking.

Elsa just ignored him as if he were invisible and walked to her spot in line. She didn't even glanced at the gym teacher's way. The people around her gave her room.

"And your attitude has made it two laps!", Mr. Smith said to her.

Everyone was groaning and moaning at this. And frankly so was I. I really hated running. I was guaranteed to trip because gravity had it out for me. Plus it's the hottest part of the day right now and it's freaking summer!

"Everyone say 'thank you Macbeth'.", Mr. Smith said to everyone.

"Thank you Macbeth!", Everyone said in annoyance to Elsa. I couldn't see Elsa's eyes behind those shades of hers, but I could tell she was rolling them.

"Macbeth, you're not wearing your shirt!", He yelled as Elsa as she looked anywhere but him. "Points deduction and another lap for the whole class."

"Hell no.", I murmured in anger as I clenched my fist. Fucking Elsa.

"Alright maggots. Listen up!", Mr. Smith called to all of us. "We were gonna be in this cool, air conditioned gym and have a nice game of dodgeball, but now we get to run outside."

With that, we all started walking outside. I walked alongside Steve, but I wasn't happy.

"Cheer up Anna! Be grateful it's not four laps. That's a mile right there.", Steve said smiling, but I was still upset. I glared in Elsa's direction. And I wasn't the only one. Everyone was giving Elsa dirty looks, but she pretty much had this 'fuck you, I don't care' look and attitude to her.

It was very bright and beautiful outside. I hadn't been outside all day. Except for when we left he house and came to school. The tracked looked really long and it was red with white lines on it.

"Alright, whoever finishes their second lap first doesn't have to run the third and gets extra credit.", Mr. Smith informed us. "Ready. Set. Go!"

And we started running. I wasn't much of a runner, but I wasn't terrible. I could keep running. Steve stayed along side me. And Elsa, of course, was first. Why didn't that surprised me? Seriously though. Most of us were finishing our first lap when she just ran right past us like it was nothing. She wasn't even panting. Jeez, this girl must have been in cross country as a kid or something. But still? How could someone run so damn fast?

But one good thing came out of this. I made it without tripping. That was a personal accomplishment right there. When we were all done, we headed back inside. Elsa walked behind everyone, separating herself from everyone.

"Alright everyone.", Mr. Smith said once we were all inside. "You all did good out there and I'm proud. I hope you all understand the tight policy I have about dressing properly.", He glanced at Elsa when he said that. "Tomorrow, we'll pick up on that dodgeball game I had planned today.", He looked at Elsa again as he said the next part. "Unless someone here amongst you decides she's too cool to wear her gym shirt."

Everyone glared at Elsa with murderous eyes. "You may all go.", Mr. Smith said and we all left.

In the locker room, some girls decided to shower. These showers were different from my old school. It was more private and had curtains. A lot better than my old school because over there, it was all out in the open. That was the reason no one ever used them.

I wanted to shower as well because I was all sweaty, but I could just do it at home. It was the last class of the day anyway and I didn't want to be here any second longer. I was tying one of my shoes when Elsa walked toward me. _What now?_ When she was next to me, she looked at me expectantly and it annoyed me. A lot.

"What.", I said, not hiding the irradiation I felt. I didn't care if I hurt the Ice Queen's feelings.

With a face without any emotion, she pointed to the locker I was in front of.

"That's your locker?", I asked, already knowing the answer. She gave me a slight nod that would have gone unnoticed if I wasn't looking at her closely. I moved to give her access to it. So I have her for three classes. In two, we sit next to each other. In this one, we're locker room buddies. Just my luck.

In the corner of my eye, I saw her grabbed something and quickly left, heading to the restrooms. Probably to change since we aren't worthy of being in her presence with she does it. I tied my other shoe and was about to leave when I saw that she left her locker ajar.

_To look or not look_. I looked around me and there was no one there. My curiosity got the better of me. So I opened it. There wasn't much inside. Just her backpack and her shirt. _Wait what?_ What's her shirt doing here. _Bitch had a shirt the whole time?_ I took it out and looked at it. _Why didn't she fucking wear it? _There was nothing wrong with it. It was identical to mine in every way. I groaned and set it back inside. I took special note to leave it just as she left it.

She's so weird, I thought as I headed toward the parking lot where my mother had dropped Alice and I off in the morning. Alice was already there when I arrived.

"Hey sis!", She said happily as I approached her.

"Hey little Alice.", My sore mood somewhat forgotten. "Is Mom almost here?"

"Yeah, I just called her, she said she'll be here in five.", She answered and looked at me curiously. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine.", I said without looking at her.

"Who's giving you a hard time?", She knowingly asked. I can never ever hide anything from her. But she can't hide anything from me either, so it checks out.

"Just this girl who gets under my skin without even trying.", I murmured, looking at the sidewalk in front of me.

"Looks I've got some competition.", Alice smirked. "Who is she?"

"She just a-", I stopped with I heard wheels heading toward me. I looked up to see her speeding down on a skateboard. _And she skates_, I thought to myself. She didn't even look my way as she passed by. I gazed at her as she got smaller with the distance. I found it odd. Those shades of hers costs more than my entire closet. One would think she would be driving a car or something.

"That her?", Alice asked, also looking at Elsa's slim figure as she disappeared around the corner.

I sighed and nodded. "Yeah, that's her."

"Well don't worry about it.", She smiled and put her arm around my shoulder. I pushed her away with no heart in it and failed. "She's not cooler than you."

I laugh at that. Leave it to Alice to lighten my mood.

* * *

**A/N: I have no update schedule.**


	3. Chapter 3

"_Living in ruins of a palace within my dreams_

_And you know, we're on each other's team."_

_Team -Lorde_

* * *

I sat up with a start. My heart beating loudly in my ears as I tried to slow my breathing down. I rubbed my eyes with my sweaty hands and then looked around my room. It was pitch black. _What?_ I felt my bed for my phone until I found it and I turned it on.

"Ah!", I shut my eyes tight at the bight light. Damn, I forgot about that. It took about two minutes for my eyes to adjust. When I was able to see, it was 6:28 am. At least now I won't have to suffer through Alice's horrible waking methods. Thinking of which, where is she? She's usually all up in my case around this time.

But since she wasn't here, I laid back down on my bed and relaxed. I took deep breaths as I thought about my nightmare. Haven't had one in a while, so I overdue for one. It was the one about where you're being chased, but can never get away from whoever's following you. I sighed as my phone's alarm went off. I listened the sounds of it. Damn that song again.

_Nice to meet you, where you've been,_

_I could show you incredible things._

_Magic, madness, heaven, sin._

_Saw you there and I thought 'Oh my god, look at that face'_

That was the point where I pressed dismissed on my phone and I began thinking about Elsa Macbeth for no reason. She was so weird and I couldn't stop thinking about that number of hers. What did it mean? I closed my eyes and her stupid pretty face came into my head. Why was she so...ugh!

I huffed in annoyance. It would be best if I just ignore her for the rest of the year. Then I won't ever have to put up with her anymore. But that's going to be hard since I have her three classes, and in one, I'll have to talk to her. Not to mention the fact that it's only the second day of school. _Well fuck Elsa then, who cares._ With that in mind, I got up and went to the bathroom to pee. When I came out, I noticed one thing.

It was quiet. Too quiet. I went downstairs to the kitchen and living room. They were both empty. I must have been up before everyone else. _Sweet._ I should go wake Alice up then.

When I got to her blue and white door, I tried the nob and I was surprised when it turned. I smiled and went inside. Her walls were covered in posters of rock bands. Her room was kind of a mess, but it was still cleaner than my own. Which if I may say, was so unfair.

I walked over to her bed, but it was empty. _Wait what? Where was Alice?_ Then as if an answer to my question, I heard a light snore coming from the other side of the bed. I rolled my eyes as I made my way around to find her spread out on the floor. Idiot fell again. I watched as her chest moved up and down with her breathing, her mouth slightly opened.

I chuckled at the disgusting drool going down the side of her lips. _Dork_. I placed my bare foot on top of her flat stomach and pressed down. But she didn't wake. Alice was normally a very light sleeper, so she must have been very tired. I shook her with my foot and she stirred this time around, but that was it. I shook her more.

"What?", She yawned as she opened her teal eyes. Alice and I pretty much had the same eyes and hair. Except her hair was a lot redder than than my own.

"School remember?", I said and she groaned. This was odd, normally I was the one who put up a fight when it came to waking up. "Why aren't you up yet?"

"I was up all night reading.", She said and yawned again.

"What were you reading that couldn't wait til morning?", I asked. Her response was pointing to the book that was on her bed. If you didn't know, my sister was a reader. I liked to read as well, but unlike her, I knew how to stop. I picked it up. "To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I remember this."

"Yeah, we had to read the first five chapters by the end of the week.", She said. "But I kind of got really into it."

"That's a shocker.", I said. "So did you finish?"

"Almost. I crashed around 2 am.", She guiltily admitted. She tried to sit up, but I held her down with my foot. "Can you get your dirty foot off of me?"

"Nah.", I said shrugging it off. "You make a nice doormat."

"Anna.", She whined as she grabbed my ankle. But she couldn't move me. "I swear to god Anna. I'll hurt you.", She warned.

"Go ahead.", I challenged. And that was my mistake. She punched the back of my knee on the leg that was holding her down. This caught me off guard and send me to the ground next to her, and she got on top and pinned my arms to my side with her hands.

"You were saying?", She asked.

"Oh, um I was saying that you're the best little sister ever.", I said nervously.

"Hmm...", She said, deep in thought. "Maybe you could take me out for ice cream after school. Your treat."

"No way.", I protested. "I'm not gonna blow my money on you, you little free loader!"

"Okay, I guess you're right. Aren't you ticklish in your stomach?", She said with an evil smile. Before I could say anything, she pinned my arms with her knees this time and the attack began. Oh god, I really regretted walking into her room. After three minutes, my eyes were in tears from laughter. "Say uncle."

"No way little Alice.", I said and with a surge of strength I didn't know I had, I flipped us around. "Oh, how the tables have turned.", I said to her panicked eyes.

"Now, Anna. Let's be reasonable here.", She said in panic. "We can work something out."

"Sorry, I don't negotiate with the enemy.", I said smirking. But before I do anything, the door opened and Mom walked in. She had her blue robe and slippers on. It looked like she just got out of bed. She leaned against the door and shook her head disapprovingly.

"Sometimes I think I'm raising two little boys.", She crossed her arms.

"Mom!", Alice said under me. "I love you so much and you're awesome. And did you know that awesome moms save their little girls. Preferably the younger ones."

"Anna let go of your sister.", She said to me.

"Oh don't worry Mom, I'll let her go.", I said smiling. "Once I'm through with her that is."

"Oh, that makes perfect sense.", She said, much to Alice's dismay. "Just make sure she's ready for school once you're done with her."

"Mom!", Alice called as she left us alone. She slowly turned to me and gulped.

"Now little Alice?", I said. "Where's your tickle spot?", I already knew it was behind her neck, but I loved messing with her. I put my hands on her neck and had at her. She didn't last long. The only reason I stopped was because we had school and I didn't her to soil herself.

"You're so mean!", Alice accused when she was finally free my grasp.

"You started.", I stuck my tongue out at her. "Anyway hurry up because I won't hesitant to ditch you."

"Anna, I have the power to be ready before you.", She crossed her arms.

"I don't care.", I said as I went back to my room. As soon as I was in, I quickly changed into my school clothes and did my hair. I decided to leave it down one more day.

It didn't take long before I was downstairs. But Alice beat me. _How the hell does one do that?!_ She opened her mouth to talk, but I beat her.

"Let's just go.", I didn't want to hear it. I grabbed the keys and headed outside to the car. Alice was about to ride passenger seat when I stopped her. "Sorry little Alice, but you're too young to ride front seat."

"Fuck you.", She said as she got in anyway.

"Aren't you just so lovable.", I chuckled.

"Damn right you are.", She chuckled. "Can we stop at McDonald's?"

"Sure, we got time.", I said as I started the car. There was a McDonald's a couple blocks from school, so I stopped there. We decided to go through drive through. I actually got some food, while all Alice wanted was coffee.

We made it to school with plenty of time. I even got to finish my food. We went to inside, straight our lockers. We just hung out by our lockers since there wasn't much to do. Then I heard wheels down echoing down the hallway toward me. I tried not to widen my eyes at the sight of her.

Today she was wearing dark gray jeans, a navy blue long sleeve shirt with the number 19 in white, and gloves. And of course the shades. She would be lost without them. Her platinum blonde hair was down today. It was parted toward her left and the end tips of it was black. _What?_ She didn't have black hair yesterday. But it was in a bun, it must have been hiding. But still, really Elsa? Did she like go through her Emo phase last year or something? She stopped right in front of Alice and I.

"What?", I asked annoyed. She pointed to the locker I was leaning on. "This your locker?", She nodded.

"Seriously!", We were locker buddies too? My locker was right next to hers.

"Excuse my sister.", Alice said politely to Elsa. "She tends to be all bitchy when it's that time of the month. If you know what I'm saying.", Alice winked and rushed around the corner. I stood there like an idiot with a red face in front of freaking Elsa. Of all the people in school, it had to be her. Elsa didn't say anything, she just looked away from me. Yeah this is awkward.

"Yeah, um I'm just gonna go.", I moved out of Elsa's way. "If you hear my sister screaming for help, don't worry about it. That's just us having a 'conservation'." I pretty much ran away to where I thought Alice headed. I ran into Marshall.

"Hi Anna.", She said under me. Why do I keep doing this? "Um you alright?"

"I'm as fine as ever.", I said helping her up. "Just looking for my sister so I can skin her alive."

"Yeah, I don't recommend skinning your sibling.", She said as she dusted herself off. "Unless you want to go to a federal prison."

"Yeah fine.", I grunted. "I bet they'll allow it in Texas. With the stupid month and bitchy Alice.

"I'm not even gonna ask.", She said with a worried face. "Let's just go."

* * *

It was fourth period, and I couldn't wait for class to be over so I could murder Alice. Maybe I was over reacting a bit, but I was still mad at her. I'm gonna get her though. Maybe when we get home. At least class was distracting me a bit.

Math usually came easy to me, but I did have difficult days every now and then. Unfortunately, today was one of these days. But it was fine, I could figure it out later. We did have to pair share with the person in front of us though. Which was just perfect because now I was gonna look like a freaking moron in front of this cute guy.

I kept sneaking glances at him while I was doing my equation. He had very light brown hair that was was very messed up on top, but only he could pull it off. He was a little pale but not too much. His sweet face did looked familiar though. As did his blue eyes. That rich bright blue shade. _Where have I seen those before?_

"I'm Jack by the way. Thanks for asking.", The guy said as we each worked the problems on our wipe boards. His voice seemed deeper than what I imagined it would be, but it did sound good on him.

"Sorry, that was rude of me. I'm Anna Anderson.", I said.

"Nice name.", He smirked. "Almost makes me feel better about mine, but not quite."

"What's yours?", I asked curiously. _I'm having a conservation with him!_

"Jack Frost.", He answer and I laughed.

"Like the snowman, or that ice dude from the Santa Clause movie.", I asked in between giggles.

"Ha ha. Laugh it up.", He smiled. "It was actually an accident."

"How do your parents accidentally name you after a snowman?", I chuckled. "Unless they were very clueless."

"Well, you see, I was born Jack something else. Then my mom married my step dad when I was toddler and changed our surnames to his, which was Frost.", He explained. "My mom didn't realized that until she signed the papers and all, but she thinks it's cute."

"That is cute.", I said._ But you're cuter_. "Are you done?"

"Yes, I am. Prepared to owned Anna Anderson.", He said with mischief in his eyes.

"You're on Jacko.", I said. "On three. One. Two. Three."

We both turned our boards to face each. We had completely different answers. "Not to pat myself on the back, but I think it's pretty obvious that I'm right.", He said with a smug expression.

"Not even.", I said. There was only one way to settle this. I raised my hand and called my teacher over.

"Let's see, what do we have here.", Mrs. Pierce inspected our works, deep in thought. "You are both very wrong."

"I didn't care anyway.", Jack said crossing his arms.

"Sore loser.", I chuckled.

"I must say, I expected better of you Jack.", Mrs. Pierce said as she looked over Jack's problems one last time. "With your sister setting the bar high and all.", With that, she left.

"Well, not everyone is a prodigy.", Jack said angrily under his breath. Just then, the bell rang and we were dismissed. Jack seemed to still be angry at his sister's success as he rushed out without saying goodbye. I guess I would be upset too if Alice was better than me at everything. Thinking of Alice, time to get her.

* * *

When I got to the cafeteria, it wasn't as full as yesterday. I couldn't find Alice nor the group of girls she was with yesterday. _Later_, I thought to myself. Then I felt my phone vibrate in my hand. I saw that it was a text from Kristoff.

_Hey Anna! Meet us outside!_

I didn't know we could go outside during lunch, but it was fine. I replied to Kristoff.

_Ok_

With that, headed back to where I came from. I saw red hair in the corner of my eye. _There you are_. I headed toward her when I was roughly shoved by someone as they were passing next to me. She was a big boned girl with dark brown hair in a pony tail. She was glaring right at me with her green eyes. She was kind of scary looking.

"Who the hell are you?", She asked angrily.

"Anna. You?", I crossing my arms over my chest.

"None of your damn business girly.", She took a step closer to me, and I took a step back. "You new?"

"What if I am?", I was really asking for it, wasn't I?

"It means I need to welcome you to Arendelle South High. That's what it means-", She stopped when someone grabbed my arm.

"Anna!", Alice said tugging my arm. "Mrs. Parker is asking to see us immediately. No time to waste, let's go."

She dragged my around the corner and we kept going until we were in the library. There was almost no students in here. We went over to the last table that was out of sight of the other ones. Once there, she stopped to catch her breath. She was scaring me a little.

"Whoa Alice, calm down.", I grabbed her shoulders and made her sit down. "Relax.", I said with a soft voice.

"I'm totally relaxed.", She said after about two minutes. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, but I ignored it in favor of my sister. "Are you crazy?"

"What are you talking about?", I asked confused.

"That back there was Abby Sorenson.", She explained. "She's like the bully for girls."

"Okay.", I got her message across. So Abby was planning on kicking my ass back there.

"Diana told me she only targets those who are alone. Kind of like how you were back there.", She said.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "And just how do you know this?"

"Diana told me.", She said a little too defensively.

"Don't lie to me Alice.", I knew when she was lying and right now she was lying.

"Okay, um she kind of came up to me yesterday and um...", Alice avoided my eyes at this.

"And you didn't tell me that bitch was bothering you.", I said angrily. "Alice if anyone does anything to you or even _tries_ to do something to you, I need to fucking know!"

"I know Anna. Calm down.", She said, but I shook my head. I did the only thing I could think of. I held her tight in my arms.

"No, I won't calm down. And I won't let anything happen to you, not if I have anything to say about it.", It was becoming hard to keep my voice calm. "If that bitch even _looks_ at you the wrong way, she'll have me to deal with. Got it?"

"Anna, I don't think it's necessary to-", She argued, as she pushed herself away from me.

"I don't care Alice. Got it?", I said to her as I made her sit in the chair.

She looked like she wanted to argue, but knew me well enough not to do so. She sighed in defeat. "Got it."

"Good.", I said. "Now, what did that bitch say and do to you?"

"Yesterday during break, she came up to me and gave me pretty much the same treatment she gave you.", She said. "But then Diana, my new friend, came and we left her."

"I'll have to thank your friend Diana then.", I smiled at her. "So that's it? She didn't threaten you or nothing?"

"Um no, that's it. That's why it isn't a big deal.", She shrugged. "You gonna get that?"

We could both hear my phone vibrating again and again. "Yeah, hold up.", I checked the messages. It was mostly from Kristoff, a couple from Marshall, and a few from Steve. I texted each of them.

_Had an emergency. Tell u about tomorrow_

I looked at Alice as she sat there, looking longingly at the bookshelves. I knew what she was thinking. "Wanna go browsing?"

"Aren't you gonna go with your friends?", She asked. "I have to meet mine as well."

"No, I'm not letting you out of my sight today. Come on.", I said and made her stand up with me. "Let's go exploring. Just blame your absence on me."

"Okay.", She flashed a bright white smile and took out her phone as we headed toward the bookshelves.

* * *

I ended up getting _The Pact_ by Jodi Piccoult. Her books were very interesting most of the time. Alice got three fat novels. I insisted on carrying two of them. I didn't want her to struggle at all. I was still worked up over the whole Abby issue. _How fucking dare she!_ She was worse than Elsa.

Alice had AP Language on the second floor, so I walked her there. I even went as far as to make sure she got inside of class safely. She was annoyed, embarrassed even, but I didn't care. I told her I would walk her to her last class as well.

I was able to get to Chemistry on time. Elsa was late again. Surprise surprise. But she had a note this time. Apparently she was in the library as well. She set her book on the table. I glance at the novel _The Shining_ by Stephan King. I must've been too focus on Alice to pay much attention to who was around in there. To even the noticed the girl I couldn't take my mind off a few hours ago.

All we had to do was take notes and there was no homework, so that was an added bonus. I was able to ignore Elsa in there. The only interaction I had with her in there was when my arm accidentally brushed against hers. Her arm felt cold, but it was freezing in there, so that was probably why.

My mind was filled with images of Abby. Fucking Abby. I was so angry right now. If we see could auras, then my mine would be red, or whatever color anger was. I couldn't let go of it. As soon as we were dismissed, I was the first one out as I headed downstairs to meet Alice. She was annoyed by it, but I wasn't having any of it. Better safe than sorry. I walked her to her class downstairs and headed to the locker room.

Once there I quickly changed and headed to the gym. Elsa showed up on time and even wore her shirt this time. I saw that it was a long sleeve and it was a white 19 on it. I wrinkled my nose at it. I would bet a thousand dollars right now that the reason she didn't wear it yesterday was because it didn't have that damn number 19 on it. I wish I could punch Abby nineteen times.

"Macbeth. You have your shirt today.", Mr. Smith said out aloud for everyone to hear. "Good job!", He was clearly proud of her.

After that, we were spit into two teams. Steve and I were in the same. Elsa was on the opposite team. And soon balls were being thrown everywhere.

"So what was you emergency?", Steve asked as he dodged a ball heading toward his face. "Everyone was worried."

"It was my sister Alice.", I said. "I just found out that fucking Abby Sorenson tried to get at her yesterday."

"Abby huh? Marshall has to deal with her every now and then." Steve said. "So did she do anything?"

"No she hasn't. And it's not gonna happen under my watch.". I said with gritted teeth. "No one's gonna mess with my sister."

"Whoa, you're like super protective of her aren't you?", A ball nearly hit us again.

"It's an older sibling thing.", I said as I ducked. A lot of people were sitting on the bleachers now. I've never made it this far in a game before.

Soon it was Steve and I against Elsa another two boys. Steve and I managed to somehow get the boys out. Elsa had a crazy accurate aim though. She got Steve got his knee and he fell, nearly breaking his glasses. I helped him up and then turned to face the Ice Queen.

I threw a ball, but she easily side stepped it as it was nothing. She picked up a ball and bounced it as she stared at me from behind her shades. I gulped. This girl is gonna be the end of me. Why was she freaking toying with me? She took aim and threw it. I dodged it.

I turned to face her and all I saw was red. The next thing I knew, I was the ground. The side of my face red in pain.

"You alright Anna?", Steve asked over me.

"I'm wonderful.", I said as I sat up. He held out his hand and I took it. "Thanks."

We play another game, and this time around, I make sure that I got hit so I wont' have to square off with Elsa again. Steve did the same and we sat together.

"Anna, about your sister.", Steve said to me. "You really shouldn't worry about it. Abby only bothers one person continuously. So your sister should be safe."

"I don't know.", I said uncertainly.

"She only bothers those who are alone. With no friends and nothing.", Steve said.

"Alice did say something about that.", I murmured.

"Don't worry too much.", Steve said in a comforting voice. "You and your sister will be fine.

"Okay, but I'm still gonna keep an eye on her.", I said. "Until I see that it's clear."

After another game, we were allowed to leave. I quickly changed and headed to Alice's last class. I accidentally shoved Elsa on my way out, but I didn't care about her today. Had this been yesterday, I would made a bigger deal out of it, but not today. Today there was someone more important. When I got there, I waited for her to get out.

"Anna, you don't have to go into stalker mode you know.", Alice said with a serious voice as she walked toward me.

"Shut up and let's go.", I said as we headed out to the parking lot.

Once we were in the car, I turned to face her. "So do you have Abby for any classes?"

Alice groaned. "You're still with this?"

"Yes I am.", I said to her. "Now answer the question."

"No I don't.", She said to my relieve. That made protecting her easier.

"Want ice cream?", I asked, even though I already know the answer.

"Does a sex addict want to go a to a whore house?" She said smirking.

"Yes?", I was unsure about that question. I didn't know if this was better than the drug addict one.

"Then let's get some ice cream.", She said happily and I smile. She started chatting about what flavor she should get. I started the car and start to head out. I look out the window and noticed Elsa. She was standing on her board, facing the cute guy from fourth period. It looked like he was talking and she was just listening. She turned my way and I quickly faced the road again. _Why is she with Jack?_

* * *

**A/N: Any thoughts?**


	4. Chapter 4

_"You can take everything I have, y__ou can break everything I am._

_Like I'm made of glass, l__ike I'm made of paper."_

_Skyscraper -Demi Lovato_

* * *

"I still don't see why we can't make a quick coffee stop.", Alice huffed in the carseat. She had been arguing about that since we stepped out of the house. And it was really getting on my nerves.

"I'm not gonna be late just because you can't go a day without coffee, you caffeine addict.", I said as I made a turn.

"First off, coffee is not just a drink. It's the greatest shit in the world.", She said as raise a finger in the air. "Second, if you would have woken up when I told you to, we would have had enough time to go."

"Well maybe you could _walk_ to the store.", I suggested.

I wasn't able to look at her since I had to keep my eyes on the road, but I could feel her glare at me. "You're such a bitch sometimes, you know that?"

"Thanks, I love you too sis.", I said in a mocking tone.

"Okay we got like fifteen minutes before we have to be in class.", She said determinedly. "I think that if we go right now, we can make it."

"If I do this, will you shut the fuck up.", I was getting very annoyed at her childish behavior.

"Yes!", She squealed in delight and it made me roll my eyes.

"Fine, but you owe me baby girl.", I said as I made a sharp U-turn. I drove fast, but not going over the speed limit. I didn't need to get pulled over...again. It took Mom forever to get over it and I had to pay the ticket myself. I stopped in front of an AmPm that was near by.

"If you're not back in two minutes, I swear to god I'll leave without you.", I said as Alice got out of the car and headed inside. At least the car was quiet now to leave me alone with my thoughts.

It was Friday and the last day of the week. It was also my last first week of school. I sighed. It went by so fast. It felt like only yesterday, I ran Elsa over when it was only four days ago. The rest of the school year will go by fast as well and before I know it, I'll be graduating. Then comes college. Which means I'll move out and be on my own. It was nice, but I know I'll miss my mother and little Alice because let's face it, the girl is lost without me. And my new friends as well. Or maybe I won't. Not really. We have all that social media crap to keep in touch. Maybe it won't so bad. I won't miss everyone as much, but I'll still miss the life I was currently living. So much is changing.

"I'm back!", Alice said happily as she opened the door and came in. "I got you a small one and some chocolate because I'm the greatest sister in the whole wide world."

"Sure you are.", I smiled as I started driving again toward school.

* * *

Everyone was right about Abby. I had nothing to worry about. I hardly ever saw her. Sure she was a rude bitch and all when I did see her, but she never tried anything. So I was able to turn my body guard mode off today. I had pretty much walked Alice everywhere on Wednesday and Thursday. And she made it a point to make it hard on me. Like yesterday, on the way to class, she stopped and stood in the hallway, just to piss me off. That bitch.

"Alright everyone.", Mr. Gold, my English teacher, said as he clapped his hands together. "The copy machine broke, so I have nothing for you guys to do at all. So the rest of the time is yours and use it wisely."

That was nice, except I had nothing to do. Everyone else on the other hand was doing some last minute work. Even Kristoff, who sat across the room from me, was doing his Government work. I did tell him to do it last night. But his excuse was football. The only other person with apparently nothing to do was next to me. And she still wasn't talking to me, or anyone.

For Chemistry we haven't had a project to do together, but Mr. Oaken promised one for next week. And I was going to fail it if this bitch didn't talk to me. She was so damn weird.

I turned to face her. Today she just had jeans and a blue shirt with the number 19 in white today. The meaning of that was kind of killing me. Her blonde hair was in a pony tail with the tip black. Her shades were off because she wasn't allowed to wear them in here. Mr. Gold actually made that a rule. On the classroom rule poster, he added no sunglasses indoors. We all knew who he was referring to on that one.

Since I was going to have to get her on talking terms with me I decided that I might as well try. "Um Elsa?", I said to her, but she just continued to stare at the wall next to her. I took a deep breath and shook her shoulder, but I might will have been trying to talk to a store mannequin. I rolled my eyes, as I turned to my binder to find something to entertain myself with. I took out line paper and pencil to write a note to the girl next to me.

_Look, I know you don't like me, but whatever. For Chemistry we're going to have to talk next week, so you should at least consider saying a work or two._

_-Anna_

I angrily folded the note and tossed it in front of her. She turned to the desk in front of her and stared at it with a frown. Then she turned to me with those blue eyes of her. I stared back at her, determined not to back down. Her jaw clenched with I thought was anger. _Why is she angry?_ It was kind of scary actually. Her stare send chills down my spine that made my stomach turn.

As suddenly as it had happened, she slowed adverted her eyes from me and back to her desk. She picked up the folded paper with her gloved hands and read over it. Then she did the last thing I would expect from anyone, especially her.

She ripped the paper in half, right in front of me. The bitch just teared it front of me like it was nothing. I get that she didn't want to speak to me at all. I get it, I really do. I mean I probably wouldn't talk to me either, but did she really have do that in right front of me. That was just rude and uncalled for. And it made my blood boil for the third time this week.

First it was when she did that cell phone volume thing, because she didn't want to listen to me. The second was finding out that Abby wanted to get Alice. And now this. Elsa didn't want to talk to me, so she destroyed the other way of communication I had with her. I hoped that Abby beats her sorry ass later on.

The bell rang and we were dismissed. I glared at the way she elegantly walked out and left, throwing the remains of my 'note' in the trash.

* * *

I was on my way to the cafeteria to join the others when someone poked my shoulder. I turned and saw teal eyes looking back.

"Hey Anna?", She said.

"What's up?", I said.

"I'm staying after school today.", She informed me.

"Um okay.", I wanted to ask for why, but decided against it. "Does Mom know about this?"

"Duh of course she does. She was the one who signed my papers." Alice said impatiently.

I wanted to argue, but at the same time I wasn't in the mood for it. "What time do you want me to come pick you up then?"

"I'm not sure, probably 5:30 maybe 6.", She said lost in thought.

"Why don't you call me and I'll pick you up, okay?", I suggested.

Her face lit up. "That sounds great!"

I reached into my backpack and took out my charger and placed it on her hand. "You better call. And I don't want the my phone died excuse again. Got it?"

She huffed in mock annoyance. "Anna, I got this."

"That's what you said about that Biology homework you didn't do last night, because you were too busy losing.", I said laughing.

Her cheeks turned pink at that. "Shut up and don't bring it up. Those zombies are dying tonight for sure."

"I still think Mom shouldn't have bought you that video game.", I shrugged.

"I'm walking away.", She said as she turned away.

I'll see you later then.", I said to her back. Her response was a middle finger coming my way. That's my little sister right there, showing me utmost respect.

Once in the cafeteria, I joined the others. Marshall sitting there with a mirror in hand, adding more eyeliner to her eyes. She was really into that stuff. She was also uninterested in whatever Steve and Kristoff were arguing about this time around. It was always something with them.

"Hey guys!", I sat next to Marshall. "What's up."

"I'll tell you what's up.", Kristoff said. "Steve here is thinks that Batman would win in a fight against Superman."

"Batman is awesome.", Steve crossed his arms. "And he's a total badass."

"But he doesn't have any powers!", Kristoff said.

"Is that your only argument?", Steve smirked.

"Bro, it's the only argument I need!", He said.

"Being a hero is more than just having super powers.", Steve argued. "Not to mention he's a fucking genius."

"Superman could just destroy the planet and Batman's gone.", Kristoff made explosion sounds. "Can Batman survive in space with his brain? No he can't!"

"Let's be honest here, Superman's too much of a mama's boy to even consider doing that.", Steve said. "He'll just throw Batman in jail and Batman will use his genius brain to break out."

"And of course Captain America says that.", He waved his arms in the air for emphasis. "Superman can-"

"Would you two shut up already!", Marshall said she grabbed a napkin to fix the mess on her eye. "You ruined my make-up."

"We're having an intellectual debate Marshall.", Kristoff said. "This is important. Why don't you help by telling us your opinion."

"Fine.", She angrily set her things down. "I think that Thor would win."

"Thor's the worse of them all.", Steve said. "He's just a spoil prince."

"Exactly.", Kristoff backed him up. "He's a fucking hotheaded idiot."

Marshall rolled her eyes. "Say what you want. Chris Hemsworth is hot in his Thor outfit."

"You're a lost cause you know that?", Kristoff said and pointed at himself with his muscular chest puffed up. "Besides I'm the only hot blond around here."

"If everyone was blind, and it was night time, and the power was out, then yes. You're very hot.", Marshall said with a straight face that made it even funnier. We all started laughing. Kristoff slumped his chair and attempted to hide his red face. Then they all turned to me once we had calmed down.

"What do you think Anna?", Steve asked.

"I'm more of a Spiderman fan.", I said. "I think he's the coolest of them all.

"Peter Parker is such a dork.", Marshall said, carefully fixing her right eye.

"Peter is supposed to be a dork.", I said. "That's what makes him different."

"He's different alright.", Marshall said as she finished her make-up.

"What do you guys think?", She asked Kristoff and Sven.

"It's fine.", Steve said, trying to sound like he was interested.

"Looks the same to me.", Kristoff said shrugging.

"Hopeless.", Marshall murmured and turned to me. "What do you think Anna?"

"Um let's see.", I said as I studied her gray eyes. "Your left eye has a little too much, but you can only see it if you're up closed. And your right eye looks little sloppy", I said. "You know what? Let me get that for you."

"Look up.", I commanded as I tried to fix it.

"You two really are girls.", Kristoff made a puking face and fist pumped Steve.

"Wow you two are made for each other.", Marshall resorted and I laughed.

"Okay, that should do it.", I said as I finished. "Here.", I gave her the mirror for her to look at it.

"Thanks Anna. Looks better than usual.", Marshall really did look grateful. "I'm glad that Kristoff brought you along."

"I'm waiting.", Kristoff said with his arms crossed, looking away, pouting his lip.

"Oh right.", Marshall said smacking her forehead. "How could I forget. Thank you raging teenage hormones."

"Ooh!", Steve said laughing. "Burn!"

"Fuck off.", Kristoff grunted.

"However, I don't blame you.", Steve said and then looked me in the eye. "You're beautiful Anna."

This made me face go red. "Thank you?"

Someone cleared their throat loudly me behind me. I was thankful for a distraction. I turned and saw blue eyes and light brown hair. "Hey Jack!"

"Hi Anna. And Steve, Kristoff, and Marshall.", He looked at each of us as he said their names. "I forgot to ask you during forth, but anyway, I wasn't here yesterday, and I was wondering if I could borrow your notes. I promise I'll bring and give them back to you as soon as I can."

"Sure.", I took out my journal and handed it to him. "Hope you can understand my ugly handwriting."

"I think I'll manage. Thanks a lot.", He smiled and walked away to the other side of the cafeteria. I looked at the others. Steve was cleaning his glasses. Kristoff was drinking water, not looking at me. Marshall was a red faced mess. "What?"

"You didn't tell me you had math with Jack Frost.", Marshall said accusingly. "I thought we were friends."

"Was I supposed to?", I asked.

Kristoff a puking face. "Like every other girl in school, Marshall here has the hots for him."

"But we keep telling her to move on because he's a total jerk.", Steve said. "Hans is the worse though."

"He's not a jerk.", Marshall said.

"Jerk or not, you can't just sit there and do nothing.", Kristoff said. "Anna, you're a way better sibling than Jack is to his sister."

"It's not like she wants any help.", Marshall was still defending Jack's name.

"I'm sorry, I'm confused.", I said. "Just who's Jack's sister?"

"She's...", Steve looked behind me. "Speak of the devil."

I turned slightly and saw fucking Abby walking in with three bitches behind her. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary though. "I don't understand. Jack and Abby look nothing alike."

"Not Abby, just watch.", Kristoff murmured. It was loud in the building, but it was still quieter than usual. Most were watching Abby and her goons as she confidently headed toward the table in the corner. I didn't like where this was going.

Elsa was sitting there by herself, reading her book. When Abby was next to her table, she slammed her hand down hard and loud. It me finch at little.

"Well, well well. What do we have here.", Abby said very loud for everyone to hear. Elsa, being herself, ignored her. This seemed to anger Abby. "Bitch, I'm talking to you!"

Abby took Elsa's yellow book out of her hand and threw it to one of her goonies. "Hello, anybody in there?!", She said mockingly and I wanted to beat up Abby so badly again. Too bad I had no fighting skills whatsoever. "So you whore. What's does that number of yours mean? Is it all the guys you've fucked?"

Elsa didn't say anything, she stared at the table like it was the most interesting thing in the world. The only indication she gave that she was listening was that was touching her number on her chest with her right hand. She was also frowning, but it was directed at no one.

"I'm talking to you!", Abby put a finger under Elsa's chin and lifted her face to look up. "Take these off, you bitch!", She grabbed Elsa's shades and threw them on the floor. With her boot, she stumped her foot down and shattered them. The room was now completely quiet, and I could hear my heart beating so damn fast in my ears. "Say something damn it!"

Elsa was as silent as ever. From what I could see, she wasn't even looking at Abby. Her pretty face was facing Abby, but her blue eyes were staring off into space. Abby grabbed Elsa's collar and made her stand. Her right hand into a fist, ready to nail Elsa if she didn't say anything. "Say something, or so help me, I'll send you to the fucking hospital!"

Because Elsa was still silent, Abby brought then brought her fist to the side of Elsa's cheek. It was such a loud and powerful blow, I could hear it echo the against the walls. It also send Elsa to the ground. I touched my own face as I thought of the pain Elsa was feeling on her face at this moment. Sure she got on my nerves, but she still didn't deserved that. She hasn't done anything. Literally.

"You're a pathetic freak.", Abby spat next to Elsa, who was now sitting on the ground. With that, she stumped out of the cafeteria. Slowly everyone went back to what they were doing before the whole thing started.

I watched as Elsa got up from the ground and headed out toward the door. All eyes on her. As she walked pass our table, I saw that the side of her side was a bright red. It stood out against her pale skin. I looked at her blue eyes, but I saw nothing in them. No signs of her about to cry or anything. No sadness, no anger, and no nothing. _What's with her?_ She looked like she didn't even _feel_ the pain. After she had left, I continued to stare at the closed door.

"Hello. Earth to Anna. Hello.", Steve said snapping his fingers in front of my face.

"What was that?!", I still couldn't believe what I had just witness. Elsa just got punched in the face by Abby. I felt sick for wishing this upon her earlier. I didn't mean it. I was just angry, it was my anger talking.

"Elsa's kind of been Abby's punching bag since she moved here last semester.", Steve said.

"Since Abby moved here?", I asked.

"No, since_ Elsa_ moved here.", Kristoff corrected.

"Elsa moved here?", I could believe that either.

"I know. Hard to believe that, huh?", Marshall said. "Basically she moved here to live with her mom and brother."

"Brother?", I started thinking about what was said earlier about Jack. Then it all made sense. The rich blue eyes and they familiar features I saw in Jack. "Jack is Elsa's brother."

"Yeah. Twins actually.", Steve said.

"But they have different surnames. I don't get it.", I said. This was too confusing.

"You see, when they were born, the parents divorced and they each kept one. The mom got Jack and the dad got Elsa.", Marshall explained. "They were brought up differently and they have different surnames. Jack has the one from his step dad, while Elsa has her dad's."

"Okay, I think I'm square now.", I said as I took in all this new information. "But wait, why did Elsa move with her mom? Did her dad not want her?"

"About that, Elsa's dad kind of died at sea during a storm in his yacht.", Kristoff said as he looked down. "The boat hit rock bottom."

"That's sad.", I said as I thought of Elsa sitting on floor at Abby's feet. Now left alone and helpless.

"Yeah. Anyway I heard that Jack hates Elsa.", Steve said. "And every time Abby bullies Elsa, Jack just sits there and does nothing. Today was just another day of this drama."

"What kind of brother does that?", Jack seemed nice and all.

"Apparently Jack.", Kristoff said with a frown.

"Elsa's no saint you know. She's is total bitch sometimes.", Marshall said.

"Must be genetic then.", Kristoff said to to Marshall who just shrugged and rolled her eyes.

"I guess.", We spend the rest of lunch time talking about a football game was coming up next week. But that couldn't stop the sadness I felt for Elsa. Her father died and she had to move in with her mom. Her brother, her twin, hated her. _What an asshole_. I would never do to Alice, no matter how much of a pain she is at times. And to top it off, she has a fucking tormentor.

And all of that started last semester. The death of her dad was probably still fresh in her head, and the fact that her brother hates her didn't help. If anything, it made matters worse. But was that an even excuse to shut the world out? To be that loner who who sits alone, talks to no one, and wears that that 19 on all her clothing?

The bell rang and I headed upstairs to Chemistry. As I was walking, I saw one of Abby's bitches. I saw her throw something yellow in the trash. It was also square shaped. She was the one Abby gave the book to, wasn't she?

Once the girl was gone, I headed to the trash and fished it out. There was no trash inside, so the book didn't get dirty, nor did it smell. The yellow cover read _The Shining._ I opened it and the bookmark was a couple pages short of the ending. I bet she would have finished if stupid Abby hadn't come in today. I placed the book in my backpack and then headed to class.

When I opened the door and went in, I didn't look at Elsa as I sat next to her. To say it was awkward was an understatement. Honestly, I was very acute of all her movements. It send me an electric shock when her arm accidentally brushed against mine. And the stupid part was that she had a long sleeve on, so how the hell does that happen. I was also very aware of how cold it was in here. I kept rubbing my arms to keep away those goosebumps. The damn air conditioner must be broken. I was also aware of the clock ticking on the wall. It was ticking too slow in my opinion.

All we did was take notes and lecture, but it felt like fucking forever. And I still hadn't given Elsa her book back. Maybe that was why I was so nervous, though I couldn't understand why. It's not the first time I've tried to talk to her. But I better do it soon. Or else she'll be the first one out of class again and I wasn't sure if she'll show up to P.E. I was honestly surprised that she didn't ditch school after what happened during lunch. Guess she's too cool for that.

As soon as we were dismissed, Elsa rushed out. Getting out of my seat, I was about to head out when I heard my name.

"Miss Anderson, may I see you?", Mr. Oaken said and I groaned inwardly. I had a pretty good idea of what this was about. I walked over to his desk.

"Yes?", I asked nervously.

"I'll make this brief. You didn't do as well as I wanted you to do on the test yesterday.", He said.

"I don't know what to say.", It was an honest answer. Chemistry just didn't agree with me.

"How about you study over the weekend for a retake and if you're still struggling, I'll assign you a tutor.", He said.

"That actually sounds pretty good.", I said. I needed all the help I could get.

"Glad to hear you like it, most students hate it.", He said as he wrote me late note. And I was off to P.E.

The locker room was empty, safe for one person. And guess who it was. Sometimes I think our encounters are planned out or something. She still hadn't changed yet. She was about to remove her shirt when I came in and stopped all together when I headed toward her.

She stood there frozen looking at her locker. Normally I would have been mad at her, but after everything I've learn about her, I couldn't find it in myself. Even if I tried. I took a deep breath as I unlocked my locker and took my clothes out. Elsa was still frozen there. _She shouldn't be shy, she's too pretty for that._ I look at her face, specifically her left cheek. It wasn't swollen or anything. The only sign that she was hit was just it was slightly pink. But that it. And it made me smile like an idiot.

"Elsa.", I said to her, but she didn't say anything. And I wasn't expecting her to. "Look, just change, I promise I won't peek alright? You're not my type anyway.", I tried to joke. It was somewhat true. I wasn't a lesbian or anything, but even if I was, Elsa wouldn't be what I'll look for, though I wouldn't exactly know what I would look for.

With that, I walked over to the end of the roll of lockers. "Turning my back here.", I turned my back to her and removed my blouse. My shoulders were covered in light freckles, they used to annoy the hell out of me, but not anymore. I sometimes like to play connect the dots with them. I put on my forest green shirt and as I am doing that, I hear the ruffle of clothes behind me. Indicating that Elsa was doing the same as me. _Good for her then_. Then I removed my shorts and put on the other ones. After that I put on my tennis shoes as well. I was all done.

"I'm turning around now.", I said and three seconds later, I did as I said I would. Elsa was putting her stuff away. _Now's my chance_. "Hey um Elsa? I uh have your book.", I said as I take her book out.

She stares at the book in my hands with what I thought was confusion. "I saw one of the bitches throw it in the trash.", I explained. "I took it out and it's not dirty at all. And it would suck to have to pay for a book you didn't even finish.", I held it out for her, but she didn't take it. "It's not a trap.", I said to her. She sighed and then took it.

She carefully felt it in her hands before putting it away. And she walked away. I rolled my eyes and ran to catch up to her. As we head side by side to the gym, I can hear Mr. Smith yelling as usual.

"Anderson! Macbeth!", He yelled. "You're both late! So two laps for the class!"

"Actually,", I began. "I- I mean we, Elsa and I, have a pass.", I said as I hand him the note.

He studied the note with interest. "It only has your name Anderson."

"We both have Chemistry together, so there really was no need for that.", I said with the confidence I didn't have. _Please buy it_.

"Well alright then.", He said. "We're just playing basketball today, so get to it maggots."

"Yes sir.", I said as I head over to Steve who was giving me a knowing smirk. I snuck a glance over to Elsa, but she was on the other side of the gym.

"You're lucky Mr. Smith has no people skills.", He said.

"Shut up and give me the ball.", I said and he laughed.

* * *

I walked back into the locker room all sweaty and stuff when I see Elsa walking out. I glance at her, but she's staring ahead. _Nothing's changed between us_, I thought as I went in. When I get to my locker, I noticed that it was slightly ajar. _Did I forget to lock it?_ When I open it, nothing was out of the ordinary. Except for one thing. There was a white index card inside on top of all my things. Whoever left it wanted me to see it. I grabbed and read the messaged on the blank side of the card. My heart skipped a beat when I realized who it was from and even more so when I read what it said.

_Thank you _

_-Elsa_

* * *

**A/N: So um did you know it's the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, on my end anyway. Yeah, something to think about.**


	5. Chapter 5

"_Come and take me over. __Welcome to the game._

_Will the current drag me down and carry me away._

_Suddenly the light begins to fade."_

_Hopeless -Breaking Benjamin_

* * *

"Okay one more time.", Kristoff said as we exited Government class. It was boring since we had to learn about the Constitution and its parts. I swear, politics are not my thing. I had a hard time staying up and I also had to keep Kristoff up as well every time he closed his eyes. "Where will we meet?"

I rolled my eyes. "We will meet outside by that one table that's by the tree on the left."

"Good.", He said satisfied and bowed. "I've taught you well young Padawan.", He said with a serious voice.

"Why, thank you Master Kristopher Bjorgman.", I said, playing along and did a slight bow as well. "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta hit the ladies' room."

He nodded and we parted ways. I used the restroom that was on the top floor since it was closest one. When I walk in, it was crowded with girls, but what can you do? It's the beginning of break and that's the time that everyone uses to take care of those personal needs. I see Abby Sorenson leaning against the wall in the corner with a big stupid smile on her face. _What's bitch up to?_

I ignored those thoughts and walked into one of the stalls. I felt my phone go off. I don't usually use my phone while on the toilet, cause you know, it's kind of gross, but I took it out anyway to find my sister's name and picture in front. It was one where she taking a stupid selfie doing that freaking peace sign. She had on the weirdest face. She'll probably kill me if she ever sees that picture representing her.

_Hey loser! Staying after school again._

I stared at my phone confused. What is Alice up to after school. _Sports maybe?_ I shrugged and put my phone back. It doesn't matter just so long as Alice stays out of trouble. And she'll tell me eventually, she almost always does. I take it out again, deciding to send her a quick text.

_Don't forget to call! ;(_

I felt the air get cold as I walked out of the stall. I shuddered. _Damn the air conditioner again_. Marshall told me that it's been failing since last semester, but the school hasn't fixed it yet. She said they brought repair men, but they said everything was fine. I didn't think so though. Maybe the school was just too cheap to fix it, so they said it was fine so everyone will shut up. Just so long as it wasn't a safety hazard, who the hell cares. Steve said that it was kind of a pattern. It almost always acted up during break and lunch. Now that I thought about it, he was right. Maybe it was some prankster messing with it.

I was washing my hands when I finally saw why Abby was smiling so much, she was waiting for someone to come and that someone just walked right into her trap. She now had the platinum blonde pinned against the wall. _Oh boy, here we go,_ I thought as I dried my hands. I heard she got punched before school today, but I wasn't there to see it. And I don't think I wanted to see it, I wasn't really into that stuff. I'm one of those students who walk away from school fights instead of toward them like everyone else. Abby then grabbed Elsa's shoulders to make her move. My eyes widen when I saw that she was taking her to one of the stalls. Abby's old school, that's for sure. That fucking bitch.

Elsa wasn't showing any emotion whatsoever toward this. The restroom started to clear out a second later and soon it was just us three. I wanted to leave, but at the same time, I couldn't and I didn't know why. My stupid conscious wouldn't let me. What would my hero think about this? Then I reached a decision and turned to face Abby who was was about to push Elsa in the stall.

"I wouldn't do that.", I finally spoke out to Abby and she stopped and smirked my way.

"Hey new kid.", She smiled evilly. "Wanna help me dump this loser in? It'll be fun and hilarious."

"I would love to, but I kind of need to take Elsa with me.", I answered. _Come on Anna, don't let her see your fear_. They feed off of it.

"Really now.", She said mockingly as she slammed Elsa hard against the wall. "Why's that?"

"Because I'll give you five dollars if you do.", I said as I took out the Lincoln from my pocket. "And I kind of need something of Elsa. And I would appreciate it if she wasn't covered in toilet water.", I wrinkled my nose to make myself look convincing.

"Hum.", Abby eyed the money with a greedy expression. "Alright.", She pushed Elsa to the ground like she was a ragdoll.

"Here.", I said as I gave Abby my money. It hard not to glare at her stupid face.

"Pleasure doing business with you.", Abby snickered and then turned to Elsa. "See at lunch Ice Queen.", When she was gone, I waited a good long minute to make sure Abby was really gone and out of earshot to let out a breath of relieve. Then I went over to Elsa. She dressed in jeans, and had on a light blue shirt under her white leather jacket. The 19 was in blue against her jacket. Her blonde locks covered her shoulders, as did the black ends. I didn't like that black hair on her, it made her look paler than she already was. Which was fine, I guess. Her paleness wasn't like a sick pale. Her skin looked alive and healthy, it even glowed a little. It would be nice if she cuts the black ends off, but her hair was nice and long and I liked it that way.

"You okay?", I asked the silent girl. She was still sitting on the ground where Abby had left her with a hard expression I couldn't describe. The only thing I knew was that it was freezing in here and that Elsa wasn't looking up at me. The bell rang for us to go to third period. She didn't move and neither did I. I offered her my hand so she could get up, but she didn't move at all. It was like she was a statue and it was worried me a little. "Elsa?"

Then out of the blue, she sighed and got up without my help. This was just like the first time I met her exactly one week ago. She's as rude as ever. _That bitch_. Without looking at me, she turned to the door and was about to walk away when I grabbed her wrist. "Wait.", Her gloved hand turned into a fist, but she didn't pull against me.

"Why?", I asked her, and all she did was turned my way. It would have filled me with hope, except for the fact that she was glaring at me with cold eyes. But eyes weren't exactly at me. They were on trained at my hand on her wrist. Her face was that of disgust and hatred. She suddenly pulled away and it got me off guard, resulting in her slipping through my firm grasp.

Then she looked into my eyes, and my breath hitched a little. God, that stare of hers. It was like those icy eyes of hers could see right through me. Like she was seeing the very core of my being. I was tempted to hide away. I didn't know what it was about it. I've never felt this way before. It looked fucking evil, like she was going to murder me right here and now. Then I couldn't feel myself anymore. My body went numb all over and I felt all my blood drained from my face. _Fuck! What's happening?!_ I wanted to cower away and hide, but it was like she was holding me in place and I couldn't move. As quickly as that happened, it was over in half a second, though it felt like hours.

Elsa adverted her eyes from mine and stared down. She reached into her pocket, took out her shades and slipped them on. She looked back at me, with what I thought was a guilty expression, but she was so hard to read. All that fear I felt just seconds ago was gone. It was like it never existed. I could barely feel and remember it anymore. She reached into her back pocket and took out a bill and held it for me. But I didn't take it. I couldn't even if I wanted to. Though I was no longer in shock, my body still kind of was and I couldn't help it. She then took my hand with her cold gloved ones and wrapped my fingers around the bill. I wanted to speak or move against it, but I couldn't. She gave my hand a gentle squeeze before parting with it. I was still frozen in shock.

"Don't waste your time on me.", She said in a harmonic voice that made my stomach turn and then left me alone in the empty restroom as the bell rang for a second time and I was officially late for third period. I felt something run down my forehead. Finally able to move, I wiped that cold sweat off and continued to stare at the blue door where Elsa had left. _What just happen?_

* * *

"So Anna, how was your weekend?", Jack asked casually as we worked on more partner problems.

"I wasn't able to do anything since I had a Chemistry test to study for.", I said as I finished.

"Chemistry huh? I happen to be a Chemistry wiz.", He said winking with his gorgeous blue eyes that made me sick. "I can help you if you want."

"No thanks.", I said almost too quickly.

There was a surprise look on his face. Although it only lasted a quarter of a second, it didn't go unnoticed by me. "Why not?"

"I think I can handle it myself, thank you very much.", It was hard to not give him the cold shoulder. I honestly just wanted nothing to do with him. If he was a shitty brother, then he was probably a shitty friend as well.

"You sure?", He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I'm sure.", I answered.

"Okay, so I was thinking that maybe you'll like to go catch a movie or something?", Jack asked, not meeting my eyes. He was blushing a bit, making him look innocent. _Don't fall for it Anna_.

"Sorry, I'm not allowed to date.", I let him down. I hoped that he wouldn't catch on that I was lying. My mom allowed me to date just so long as she gets to meet and 'interview' him first. It was honestly more like a police interrogation. Alice wasn't allowed to date until her second of semester of of Junior year, which was still a year and a half away. I just used that excuse because I didn't want Jack, no matter how cute he was. And Marshall has a crush on him, so he's kind of off limits anyway.

"Yeah, okay I get it.", He tried to make it seem like it was no big deal, but I could tell that he was a little hurt at being rejected. "Wanna be friends then?"

"Okay, we can be friends.", I shrugged. "So uh what did you do over your weekend?"

"Not much, just went fishing with my family.", He answered with a smile.

"Not much huh?", I said smiling back.

"Fishing isn't as exciting as it sounds.", He said with a little pout.

"My little sister Alice usually makes things a little interesting. What about yours?", I asked, trying to learn something about Elsa without making it look like I was trying. I was kind of curious about her. Especially after I found her note in my locker last Friday.

"My sister didn't want to come. She's so weird.", Jack shrugged as he was finishing his equation. "And she's no fun to be around with anyway."

"Oh really?", I said pretending to be surprise, which was hard since what he was saying seemed very Elsa like.

"Yeah.", He said. I waited for him to say more, but he didn't. Before I could ask more about her, the bell rang and I had to leave to my Chemistry test. I had the first half of lunch to do it and I needed all the time I could get.

* * *

I was pretty sure I failed again. I couldn't focus, all that studying over the weekend was for nothing and it all went to waste. My head was filled with a certain blonde girl who didn't want to get out of my head. I couldn't stop thinking of my little chat with Jack and the memory of what happened in the restroom was hitting me hard as I worked those Chemistry equations. I concluded that she fucking intimidating as hell when she wasn't pretending you were invisible. What if she does something like this when we meet to work on the stupid project we were gonna get at the end of the week. I groaned as I get a pizza, apple, and water. Those icy eyes promised bloodshed. _So why hasn't she given Abby that look?_ I was certain Abby would shit her pants and leave her alone if Elsa did that to her. I would pay to see that. I shivered, since the school was cold again.

I shook my head as I walked across the cafeteria to the door that led me outside. I glanced over at Elsa's table. She was sitting alone with her earphones on and reading a different novel this time. She shouldn't be here though. I thought earlier to what Abby had told Elsa. She was gonna beat Elsa's ass again right now and I didn't want that, even after that restroom incident. I hated Abby more than I hated Elsa, mainly because she threatened Alice, which I might add, I was still wasn't over it.

The door flew opened and that bitch with dark brown hair came in with a smirk. She walked over to Elsa's lone table. I froze just a couple feet from the door and it got deadly quiet.

"If it isn't my favorite punching bag!", Abby announced once she was next to her. She did it loudly for everyone to hear. Elsa being herself again, said nothing. She was still reading her book without a care in the world. She was cool and as stupid as fuck, that girl. Abby frowned. One of her bitches gave her a carton of chocolate milk and Abby smirked with hate written in her eyes. "You like chocolate milk, don't you?", She said mockingly as she opened it and held it above Elsa's head. I didn't like where this was going. "Here have some!", And bitch poured it all over Elsa's beautiful pale blonde hair. My heartbeat skyrocket in anger as I watched this happen. "You like that, don't you bitch?", When it was empty and all over Elsa, she shushed the carton flat on her head.

"Maybe I should give you 18 more so you'll have 19 in total.", Abby laughed. I watched Elsa's face and still no emotion whatsoever. This made me sad. Her hair now had an ugly brownish look to it and her pretty face was wet in it as well. But she wasn't doing anything about it, she was just taking everything Abby had to give her. And it was even sadder that nobody was doing anything. Not even her own _brother_, who was on the table that was farest away from her. If I didn't know any better, I would say he was doing this on purpose.

She pushed Elsa off the chair and onto the ground. The thud was painfully loud in my ears. "Tell you what?", Abby said, eyes filled with glee, as she roughly grabbed Elsa's beautiful wet hair and pulled her up, forcing her to stand. "I'll stop if you make a sound."

I shut my eyes in anger. _That bitch!_ I really hated what was happening here and I couldn't do anything about it. _Or could I?_ _What would my hero do in this situation? _I watched from afar as Abby easily slammed her loudly onto the wall like a fucking lifeless ragdoll. And Elsa had yet to say a word.

"Come on you fucking shithead!", Abby brought her knee deep into Elsa's stomach. Elsa hunched over and opened her mouth to catch her breath. If she was reacting, then it must really hurt. "Say something!", She dug her knee into the blonde's stomach again, this time with more force. Elsa was now gasping for air and Abby smiled happily at this. My angry eyes moved to Jack. He was staring on with a hard expression, but did nothing. Everyone around had wide eyes and were staring on in fear. I guess this was more violent than usual and it made me sick that they already knew what to expect from Abby's behavior toward Elsa.

Abby grabbed Elsa and pushed her to the ground. "Just tell me to stop.", She said angrily and took her shades, breaking them with her big hand. "Can't hide behind these anymore, can you?"

I couldn't take it anymore. I've seen enough. Someone has to do something. If not the people behind me, or in front of me, or next to me, not him, not her; then that person is me and I had to act. I reached a decision and let me tell you something, it wasn't a smart one. Despite my better judgment, I threw my food in the trash and headed over to Abby from behind.

"Leave her alone!", I grabbed her arms from behind and pulled her away with the strength I didn't know I had. I was successful since I had the element of surprise. She landed on her back several feet from me. It looked like everyone's eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.

I stood in front of Elsa, facing the monster that was attacking her. Abby recovered and got up, her face was red in humiliation. She was sending me death glares, but I too pumped high on adrenaline to be afraid or even care for that matter. She wasn't gonna hurt Elsa anymore.

"Move out of my way Anderson.", Abby said in a commanding voice, but I didn't listen. I glared back at her. My blue green eyes challenging her green ones. The stare off was a minute long before she averted her eyes from mine. Then she chuckled and gave me a crazed grin that was even more terrifying then her glare. It made me quiver a bit. "Watch your back hon. I'm gonna get you when you least expect it.", She turned and, but then gave me a glance with dark eyes. "And then you'll be sorry you ever got in my way."

Then she turned away and walked out. Her bitches following behind. Everyone was quiet, even when the door closed and she was long gone. All eyes were on me as I stared at the door. Then slowly everyone went back to what they were doing.

I finally exhaled the breath, I didn't know I was holding. I turned around to where Elsa was standing, but she was no longer there. She and all her stuff was gone. For a second I seriously doubted she was ever there. But then I saw her shattered shades on the ground next to me, there was chocolate milk spill all over the white floor. I saw that there was a little trail that led to the other door that was closest to where I was standing. How she managed to quietly slip away without a sound, I'll never know.

I took a deep breath as I headed out the door to head early to class. I wasn't in the mood to justify my reckless behavior to the others. Or to anybody. Everyone here had that look that said they wanted to talk to me. I did send my friends a quick text as I walked to the stairs.

_Something came up. I need to be alone for now_

I felt guilty for doing this to them again. But I shrugged it off. If they're really my friends, then they'll understand. Once I was on the top floor, I headed to the restroom, the same one I was in during break where Abby tried to take Elsa to one of the stalls. I looked at myself in the mirror as I watered my sweaty face. I looked like shit. My face was looking little pale against my tan and my eyes looked a little wild, even my hair was looked off, though it was the same as ever. It was a clear sign that all wasn't well with me. Oh god, I didn't feel so well. Maybe I should have my mom pick me up, but I really shouldn't. She'll ask questions and I wasn't in the mood to answer them yet, especially when I couldn't answer them myself.

The bell rang and I headed to class. I was the first one there. When everyone started showing up, they all gave me curious looks, some gave me thumbs up, others gave me encouragement smiles, and others gave me pity looks. It was very unusual to have all this unwanted attention. I waited for Elsa to show up, but she never did. I wasn't expecting her to and I was glad that she ditched class today. I didn't want to see her face right now. Maybe some other day, but not now.

Before class ended, Mr. Oaken gave me my new test score. I did worse this time around and he said he would keep the better of the two. That was nice of him. I would also get a tutor next week. I wasn't paying too much attention though. It was like I wasn't even there at all.

My mind was trained on what Abby had said. I need to watch my back from now on. I wasn't afraid, but at the same time, I was terrified. Strange combination right there. I'll need to ask my mom if we have life insurance. I was sure I was going to need it. Then I have to figure out where the nearest hospital is and maybe it'll be a good idea to figure out my blood type. Maybe I was freaking a little too much. _Damn_.

As I headed to P.E. everyone was giving me weird looks again. I guess everyone knew about the incident now. The rumor mill sure is getting its workout today. After changing into my clothes, I headed out to the gym. Elsa wasn't there either. I'll have to ask her sometime where she goes in case I needed to hide from Abby and if she had any pity on me, she'll answer. Of course, this wouldn't be a big problem if I actually had a fighting chance against Abby. I should take lessons after I recover from Abby's beating.

"Alright maggots!", Mr. Smith said out loud. "Today is an easy day. All you have to do is play basketball and that's it. No laps from non-dressers." As soon as I went to one of the basketball courts, Steve quickly came to me with a concern look. Of course he already knows.

"Is it true?", Steve quickly asked.

I suddenly found my shoes to be very interesting. I should wear them more often because they're so nice. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He just rolled his eyes behind his glasses. "Rumors lie all the time. I need to hear your side of the story. Now tell me everything."

I sighed and told him everything. From what happened in the restroom and what happened at lunch. Steve was actually a great listener. That was something I liked about him. Maybe this was what I needed. He didn't ask questions like I knew Marshall would or interrupt like I knew Kristoff would. When I was finished, I felt a little relieved. Steve gave me an impressed look.

"Wow Anna! You're fucking awesome.", He patted me on the back with a smile.

"I don't feel awesome.", I murmured as I dribbled the ball.

"Well you should.", He shrugged and stole the ball from me.

"Abby's going to fucking kill me.", I all but whispered and got the ball back.

"Yeah, you're pretty much dead meat right now.", Steve agreed.

"Gee, thanks for making me feel better.", I said as I roughly passed him the ball.

"Don't worry, we won't let her get you.", Steve assured me.

"We?", I asked uncertainly. "The others aren't here."

"Don't worry about a thing Anna.", He smiled confidently. "We all have your back."

"Okay.", It wasn't too much that I wasn't confident about this. I just didn't want the others to go down with me. "Whatever you say."

"Alright maggots!", Mr. Smith called us all out. "You're all excused from class. Now leave."

"Hey Anna?", Steve asked as we walked out and I nodded him on. "Just out of curiosity, who's your hero."

"Oh, that.", I smiled. "Don't you remember from last Friday?"

"You mean Spiderman?", Steve asked.

"Yeah.", I answered and smiled at the memories all all those movie, cartoons, and comics from when I was a kid. "He was my hero growing up when I had none. With great power comes great responsibility."

Steve smiled and nodded. "We'll see you tomorrow alright?"

"Sounds good.", I said and we parted ways.

When I got to m locker, it was ajar. I groaned. _And the wrath of Abby _begins. When I grabbed the lock it was freezing cold. _Shit!_ I dropped it and it slid away from me across the floor. When I pick it up, I was more careful. I look at it closely and see a little frost on it._ Weird_, I wondered how Abby pulled this up. I shrugged and I was about to open my locker when I suddenly stopped. _What if something jumps out at me?_ A person looking at me from afar will think I'm a fucking weirdo, but when there's a hit out on you, it's completely normal.

I stood on the side and opened it. Nothing jumped out at me._ Wait what?_ I peeked inside and everything is just as I left it. I gulped and poked my clothes. When nothing happened, I let out a breath of relief and relaxed. The only difference within my stuff was a white index card sitting right on top for me to see, just like last Friday. It didn't have a name on it this time, but I knew exactly who it was from. The graceful handwriting was the same as ever, but the message was completely different. It also looked like she wrote it in anger since the letters were practically carved into the card.

_You're a fucking idiot!_

I groaned in annoyance. Thanks for the vote of confidence Elsa. You're the best.

* * *

**A/N: Wanna hear a terrible joke? Here it goes:**

**Why can't you give Elsa a balloon?**

**Because she'll let it go!**

**Ha! I'm a fucking genius...not**


	6. Chapter 6

"_You better run, you better do what you can._

_Don't wanna see no blood, don't be a macho man."_

_Beat it -Michael Jackson_

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?!", Alice nearly shouted at me as she got in the car. This day was just getting better and better. And it was still only Monday, still have a week to go. I sighed. _Just my luck_.

"Hello to you too.", I mumbled as I got back on the road. I can't say I didn't see this coming. I mean, I did have like fifty angry text from everyone saying the exact same thing. Even from people I didn't even know. It sure makes you wonder who knows your number, and more importantly, how they got it. It gave me the creeps just thinking about it.

Alice crossed her arms and stared at the windshield. "Why don't you ever think before doing anything?!"

"You know as well as I do that I don't have the answer to that.", I replied as I made a stop on a red light.

"Seriously though!", She waved her hands. "It's like you're fucking begging for trouble!"

"It's not my fault Abby's a crazy bitch.", I said, not looking at her. I really didn't want to hear it.

Alice snorted. "You got that right.", She looked at me and I looked back. Instead of anger, I saw concern in her teal eyes. Made me felt a little guilty. "What are you going to do?"

"What can I do?", I said as I drove once again when the light turned back to green.

"Pack our bags to China?", She suggested and I rolled my eyes. "Are you even afraid?"

"I'm terrified.", I admitted to her. "But if I'm being honest with myself, I don't regret my actions."

"You just had to be the hero didn't you?", Alice said, still upset.

"Abby's a bitch.", I stated. "Someone had to stand up to her."

"I guess.", She shrugged. "But I still don't think you had to pick a fight with her."

"Last I checked, she picked a fight with me.", I said as I recalled what had happened a couple hours ago.

"I don't think Elsa's worth getting your sorry ass beaten.", Alice said annoyingly.

"Worth it?", I thought about it. I didn't think Elsa was worth it either. She was just as bad as Abby, but at least she left the world alone. "I was just sick of Abby's stupid behavior."

"You're a fucking idiot.", My sister said to me. Funny, that's what Elsa's note said. I didn't say anything and neither did she the rest of the way home. When we got there, Mom's car was parked in the driveway. I was still having a hard time getting used to the fact that Mom was gonna be home more often. She had more time to relax and be at home nowadays. It was a great change from our old home in San Francisco.

Then I thought of something that I hadn't thought of before. I quickly locked the door before Alice could make a break for it. "Do me a favor and don't tell mom.", I said as she was unsuccessful at opening the passenger door. I loved how the driver has all the control, one of the perks of it.

"Why, afraid she'll knock some sense into you? Or maybe even do something about it?", Alice said angrily. "Maybe I should tell her."

"Please don't tell her.", I pleaded. "I just don't want Mom worrying about me."

"Well I think that Mom needs to know. She at least deserves a heads up.", She said looking at me. "It'll cushion the blow of getting the phone call saying that her daughter's in the ICU."

"Please, for me.", I pleaded to my younger sister._ How pathetic is that?_

"You know, I find it very hypocritical of you not wanting to let Mom know.", She said while looking intently at me.

"What are you getting at?", I asked as I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Nothing.", She answered quickly.

"Look I know what you're trying to say, but please just keep this out of Mom's ears, alright?", I wasn't sure if I could fully convince her, but I did see that she was considering it, so there was hope in there.

"Anna.", She whined and I smiled. _She's breaking!_

"I'll be careful in school until I can think of something.", I added to hopefully convince her.

"Alright, I won't tell her.", Alice sighed in defeat, "And don't you mean until _we _think of something.", Alice's hard face turned into a weak smile that reached her eyes.

"Oh my god, thank you sis!", My arms were suddenly around her, pulling her to me. "I love you!"

"Get your hands off me!", She said as she pushed away, but it was only half-heartly, she even giggled a little. "You're smothering me."

"Thank you so much, you're the greatest.", I said as I let her go.

"Dude, I already know I'm the greatest.", She said smiling. "Let's go already before Mom starts wondering why we're still parked in the driveway."

"We haven't been in here that long, but alright.", I agreed as I unlocked the door and we got out. I suddenly stopped halfway to our house. "Wait, how do I look?", I didn't want my mom to know something was up. She could almost always read me and I hated it. It was one of the drawbacks of having a close relationship with your mom.

"Oh um...", Alice eyed me up and down. "I'm gonna be honest here and say that you look like shit."

"You sure know how to compliment, you know that?", I said huffing and then smirked at her. "But I think I look better than the zombies you didn't kill over the weekend."

"Oh fuck you.", She said, clearly annoyed that I brought that up yet again, and started heading toward the house. "Considering your reckless act, those zombies have a better brain than you."

I rolled my eyes and then I thought of something that I was knew would really tick her off. "Then let me tell you something. At the end Joel-"

"La la la la la.", She said loudly as she quickly covered her ears. "Not listening!"

I grabbed her hands from her ears. "At the end, when Joel and Ellie get to the-"

"Shut up!", She nearly shouted and bite my hand off her arm.

"Ow!", I wince in pain at the new red bite mark on my wrist. "Jesus fucking Christ Alice!"

"That's what you get for trying to spoil it.", She said giggling and ran inside the house with a huge smirk on her face.

"I'm gonna get you!", I said smiling as I ran after her into the house.

* * *

_Come on Anna, you got this_. I thought as I parked in my usual spot in school. It was now Friday, and I had survived the wrath of Abby all week. I just had to get through today and I was golden. I fiddled with my seat-belt a little since my hands were shaking a little. Okay, maybe a lot. I was totally a nervous wreck, since it's been building up all week.

"Stop stressing already.", Alice undid my seat-belt. "Or your old lady hair will get older."

"It's not even white.", I mumbled, as I looked at the streak in my hair using the rear view mirror. "It's more of a white blonde."

"Whatever you say grandma.", She giggled as she got out of the car. "Besides, Abby isn't coming to school today."

"What makes you say that?", I asked curiously as we headed out of the student parking lot and toward the three story building.

"I just checked her status and she's out of town, won't be back til the afternoon.", She said as she looked through her phone with one hand and held her coffee cup with the other.

"What the hell is Abby doing out of town?", I was finding this a little too good to be true.

Alice shrugged. "Beats me.", She said as she put her phone in her back pocket. "Just enjoy not having to deal with her today."

"Well that little relieving actually.", I admitted. I felt this comfort settle over me. It was like the weight of the world was finally off my shoulders. I think I had a stupid smile on my face, but I didn't care. I was free for today and the weekend tomorrow. This was a good way to start my day.

There weren't that much students inside, but I could still hear a couple whispers around me. At least, it wasn't as bad as Tuesday. That was the worse. I had different people come up to me and wish me luck. One even went as far as to take a picture of me so they could all remember what I used to look like. It made me feel dead inside, but then Kristoff scared the boy off and it was really funny.

When we got to my locker, I opened it to put my books inside. Then I took out the novel we were reading for AP Lit. I had forgotten it yesterday in my hurry to leave school, but I had already read ahead, so it wasn't a problem.

When the bell rang, Alice and I headed up the stairs. Ever since Abby's threat, my friends have been escorting me everywhere I went. Even Alice occasionally. According to Marshall, Abby was waiting to catch me alone because she was too much of a coward to try anything while I was with someone, even if it was just my little sophomore sister.

And I think they were right, but I could always feel her green eyes on me during lunch. In the hallways, she would send me death glares and shove me as she passed by, but that was it. And it was really getting on my nerves, almost made me want to confront her, but someone was always there to make sure I didn't. But since Abby wasn't here today, I didn't need a bodyguard with me, so I made Alice head to her Art II class despite her protest.

When I made it to Mr. Gold's classroom, there weren't any other students except for one. She was number two on the list of people of I didn't want to see. She was wearing a black jacket on top of her navy blue shirt. And of course, the 19 on the jacket in white. It sometimes drove me crazy to know what that damn number meant, but I was slowly learning to live with it. Her platinum hair was down, but there was a small strand of hair that was braided toward the left side of her face that looked kind of cute.

I sat next her in my usual spot and tried my best to ignore her, but it was really hard since it was just me, her, and Mr. Gold who was lost in his laptop. _Where was everyone?_

"Alright you two. I need to leave for a couple minutes.", Mr. Gold said as he stood up. "I won't kick you guys out, but I'll lock the door so that other students won't get in. The door opens from the inside, but please don't let others in."

Before I could protest, he was out. I must be living my worse nightmare. I was stuck in here alone with Elsa. The seconds felt like hours as I listened to my breathing as well as hers and tried not to move too much. It wasn't that I didn't want to be alone with her, if anything, I would love to get to know her since I was a bit curious. But it was just a little too awkward to be around her. It had been like that all week since the Abby encounter. She would glance at me more often as well, but before I could say something, her eyes were somewhere else. And then there was the fact I defended her from Abby. It made it weird to just be next to her.

But it was kind of comforting having her around because she was the only one who was treating me the same since Monday. Did I mention everyone else was weird around me? Because they were. My friends looked at me with worried and concern faces, and those who I didn't know looked at me like I was a time bomb about to go off. But with her, minus the angry note she left on my locker, it was the same as ever.

"So lovely weather we're having.", I stated out of nowhere I felt like if I didn't at least say something, I would go crazy in this silence. Elsa turned to me and wrinkled her nose at me. _Does that mean she doesn't agree?_. "Did you know the whole school thinks you're mute?", I chatted away anyway. I just didn't want it to be quiet in here.

Then she nodded and my heart stopped. _Whoa, I'm no longer invisible!_ It felt strange to be seen by her. She wasn't talking, but a nod from her was a huge step.

"So why don't you ever say anything?", I asked her, hoping for answer even though I knew I would get none. I wanted to ask her why she lets Abby treat her the way she did, but that was probably dangerous territory.

She just shrugged boringly. This girl just give no fucks what everyone thinks of her. Before I could say more, the door opened and Mr. Gold, along with the others, walked in. Kristoff waved at me before taking his seat across room. I smiled and waved back.

"Alright class, have a seat, and let's get started.", My teacher said. I turned back to Elsa, but her attention was back to the desk in front of her. She was playing with the blue pen in her gloved hands, seemingly uninterested in what was going on around her. _And she's back_.

* * *

With no Abby around today, I was able to walk myself to the cafeteria. It felt good to be independent again. When I got there it looked like Kristoff and Steve were at it again with another one of their pointless arguments. Marshall had her head down on the table, either she was trying to block them out or was just sleeping. I couldn't tell. When I got there, Kristoff quickly turned to me.

"Anna, tell Steve that carrots are better than apples.", He said narrowing his eyes at Steve.

"Carrots? Apples?", I said confused as I sat next to Marshall.

"Well, I keep saying that carrots are awesome, but the Captain here thinks that apples are best", Kristoff said crossing his arms.

"Anna, please be a pal and say that apples are better. They are good, healthy, the sugars in it can help you wake up in the morning.", Steve said as he held a red apple in his hand. "A much healthier alternative to coffee in the morning."

"Anna please be _my_ pal and say that carrots are better. They taste freaking amazing, and they are good for your eyes.", Kristoff said, holding an orange carrot up that was pointing to Steve's glasses. "And they-"

"Shut the fuck up already!", Marshall growled from her face in her arms. I couldn't see her face under all that black hair of hers. "Fucking idiots.", She mumbled. I saw huge bags under her eyes as she got up and headed to the door that led to the restrooms. Kristoff and Steve just laughed as Marshall nearly collided with a small freshmen boy.

"What's up with Marshall today?", I asked.

"Dumbass was up all night typing that government report.", Kristoff answered.

"Look who's talking, you ditched second period to get out of turning it in.", Steve said smirking in victory.

"That's what you were doing Kristoff? Really?", I said as I stared at him in disbelief. That explained a couple things, regarding his absence. We were walking together, when he said he needed to go to the restroom, and to go on without him. He never came back.

"I didn't tell you because you would've stopped me.", Kristoff defended himself. "Besides it's not like we were doing anything important in that class anyway.", Kristoff shrugged. "Right Anna?"

"We didn't do much.", I said to him. "But Mr. Brown knows what's going on, so he's still deducting points, even if you weren't there."

"I can live with that.", Kristoff shrugged. "On the bright side, I got my daily beauty sleep.", Kristoff said flexing his muscular arms in front of Steve and I.

"Well go back to sleep because it's definitely not working.", Steve said and I laughed.

Kristoff blushed. "Shut up!"

Marshall was once again sitting next to me. I was too busy with Kirstoff and Steve to hear her come. It was then that I noticed something in all three of them. "Why are you all wearing matching shirts?"

"Oh, don't you know?", Steve asked. "Today's the big game against the rival school."

"Yeah.", Marshall yawned next to me. "It's a school tradition to wear forest green, preferably the school shirt.", She laid her head back down on the table again.

"Oh.", I was all I could say. Damn, I was so wrapped up in Abby and my problems, that I forgot all about it.

"Don't worry Anna, I got the hook-up.", Kristoff said after seeing my discomfort. He reached into his backpack and threw me an identical shirt. "I didn't know which to get you, but I think you look like a small."

"I am actually. Thank you Kristopher.", I said gratefully as I look at the front of it. It had a muscular crocodile wearing the jersey and a football helmet that an image of a crocus on the side.

"Put it on Anna.", Steve instructed. "We all need to match in green."

"Right.", I slipped it over the white blouse I had on today. "So who's the rival school?", I asked once it was over my head.

"Ah, well you know how we're Arendelle South High?", Steve asked and I nodded. "Well, the only other high school in town is Arendelle High."

"Interesting choice of school names.", I commented. "So what are our odds of winning?"

"Honestly it's 50/50 right now.", Kristoff said lost in thought. "We lost last year, but managed to make it to the playoffs anyway. I think we have decent chance."

"Assuming Kristoff here doesn't get knocked out again.", Steve smirked.

"You're on the team?", I said surprised.

"Yes, yes I am.", Kristoff said proudly.

"That's great. Kristoff, it really is.", I congratulated him. "And what do you guys mean by Kristoff getting knocked out?"

"I'm telling it.", Steve said quickly before Marshall and Kristoff could say anything. "So it was last year, we were in the final quarter and the others were winning by a touchdown. Anyway, Kristoff was went in and-"

"Please stop talking.", Kristoff said, placing his head on the inside of his black backpack on the table. "Have mercy."

"So then what happened?", I asked impatiently, since it was getting interesting.

"Well, he went in and he was doing fine and all.", Steve said, his eyes filled with mischief behind his glasses. "So then they called a time out, and Kristopher here was running toward them. And since he was having a dumb blond moment, he fell."

"Okay and...", I tried to coaxed more out of him.

"Miss Snow, would you do the honors?", Steve asked Marshall with a gentleman's voice. Marshall lifted her head from the table and smiled. That smile of hers reached her baggy eyes.

"Why, I'll love to Mr. Rogers.", Marshall said in a very girly voice. "Anyway, when Kristoff fell, I don't know how it happened, but he managed to knock himself unconscious for the next five hours."

"How did that happen?", I asked. I'm as clumsy as they come and I've never done that.

"I think he hit his thick skull on a rock through his helmet.", Steve answered.

"Hey!", Kristoff's muffled voice came from his backpack. "My skull is that not that thick."

"Sure it is you big lump.", Marshall snickered. "Anyway, he wasn't able to live that down til they made it to the playoffs."

"But even then, we still tease him every now and then because it's fun.", Steve laughed quietly. "But the chances of that happening again are very low, so we shouldn't worry about it."

I felt someone poked my shoulder behind me. I turned meet my sister's face. "What?"

"Change of plans, I'm not staying after school today.", Alice informed me.

"And you couldn't text me that?", I raised an eyebrow at that.

"Like you're really gonna look at it.", She shrugged.

"I guess.", I said. "Just wait for me by the car then.", She nodded. When she left, my eyes fell on Elsa who was at her usual table in the corner. Her blue earphones were on, and she was reading another novel. I personally thought that she was having an easy week. Abby hadn't done anything to her since I was her new target. Suddenly, Elsa looked up from her book and I felt her eyes on me behind her shades. I quickly turned around back to the others. Thankfully, none of the others noticed this exchange of eye contact.

"So want me to pick you guys up to the game?", Marshall offered.

"Sure.", Steve said happily. "You in Anna?"

"I'll love to.", I said. I was just gonna drive there, but it's funner to go with your friends.

"Great.", Marshall said happily and turned to Kristoff. "You still have the tickets?"

"Yeah.", Kristoff's muffled voice came from inside the backpack. He unzipped the small pocket of his backpack and took out forest green tickets.

"One of the perks of having a friend on the team is that we get in for free.", Steve said happily as he distributed the tickets. "This one's for your sister.", He said as he handed me two.

"That's pretty awesome actually, thank you.", I said and then patted Kristoff's head, which was still hidden in his black backpack. "And thank you, you big jock."

Kristoff finally took out his head out. His cheeks were slightly pink. "You're welcome."

We spend the rest of lunchtime just talking while Marshall fell asleep on the table again. When the bell had rang, I excused myself and headed to Chemistry. There were few students when I got there, Elsa including.

I sat next to her as Mr. Oaken started passing out papers. When I got mine, I saw that it was my first test score of a 57 percent with a big fat F in red. I sighed at it. _I suck_.

"What the hell?!", Some guy with black hair and glasses yelled. "I thought you said this was gonna be graded on a curve.", I didn't remember hearing that. But I'm forgetful, so who knew.

"And it was.", Mr. Oaken said calmly as he passed out more test scores.

"I just did the math and my score is the same without the curve grading.", He said while looking at his calculator.

"That's because someone in here got a perfect score.", My teacher replied.

The boy just huffed in anger and turned to face the class. "Alright, who's the curve breaker?"

"Duke sit down.", Mr. Oaken said sternly. "It doesn't matter, you shouldn't need the curve grading to pass. Maybe next time, you should study instead of making out with your lady friend outside of my class."

Everyone whistled and made fun of him and Duke's face turned beet red. I laughed as well, but at the same time, I was thinking about who the curve breaker was. If that person hadn't gotten a perfect score, I might have had a chance of getting a C. I watched as Duke Weselton tried to look at other students' papers. He was a senior like me, but was super short, probably the shortest in the class. Maybe that's why he had the tendency to always be loud and obnoxious.

Mr. Oaken leaned towards Elsa and whispered something into her ear. I saw Elsa pursed her lips a little and nodded. The teacher smiled at her before handing Elsa her paper and leaving to start today's lesson. As Elsa moved to put her paper into her binder, I sneaked a glance and immediately knew who the curve breaker was.

For some reason it didn't come as a shock to me. She was really smart in AP Lit. and even in P.E. Mr. Smith had been pushing her to join sports, but Elsa kept declining each offer. And I remembered the day in math when Mrs. Pierce had said something about Jack's sister setting the bar high and all. I could bet my all my money that she was just like that in all her classes. I wanted to be mad for Elsa being the curve breaker and all, but I couldn't. This weird girl was just better than me and it wasn't her fault I sucked at Chemistry.

When class was over, Mr. Oaken asked me to stay after class. I think I knew what this was about, again. I sighed and went over to his desk. Mr. Oaken waited until everyone was out before he spoke. "I'll make this quick.", He said. "Your tutoring session will start in the library after school on Monday."

"Alright.", I said a little gloomy. I liked the idea of getting extra help, I really did, but I just wasn't confident about it. I once had a tutor and all he did was stress out and be a jerk about it.

"Don't feel too bad, Miss Anderson.", Mr. Oaken said gently. "Everyone needs extra help every now and then."

"I understand.", I said nodding. I was about to leave when I remembered something. "Um, Mr. Oaken, what about the project we were gonna get today?"

The big man sighed. "We've been having many teacher meetings regarding curriculum and all that good stuff.", He answered. "It's putting a couple things on hold. Everything should be sorted out by next Wednesday."

"Okay thanks.", I said and turned to leave.

"Miss Anderson?", He called me back.

"Yeah?", I said turning back to him.

"Here's your late pass.", He handed me a paper identical to the one from last week.

"Oh, thank you.", I said taking it and then headed out to the stairs. My phone was vibrating as I headed to the locker room. I decided to just look at it when I get there. Once I was inside, I took out my phone to read the texts. There was like almost twenty in total from everyone. I decided to opened Alice's message first since it was at the top.

_Abby's back!_

I stopped dead in my tracks in front of the roll of lockers. I think my face lost its color after reading that. I took a deep breath as I moved my sweaty finger to the next one.

_She's waiting for you in the locker room_.

_Bitch say what now?!_, I thought as I looked around me. But I was alone in here. After a minute of standing frozen there, I went decided I was better off ditching school. I didn't want to run away from my problems, the whole idea running away was stupid, but it was the smart choice. And there was no harm done in doing that right? Plus it was my last class and it was just P.E. No one really gives a damn about it anyway.

I turned around and was about to head out when I see the person who was number one on the list of people I didn't want to see. She was wearing black boots, blue jeans that were ripped at the knees, and a blood red shirt. Her dark brown hair was in a pony tail in the back of her head, and her green eyes were giving me a predatory gaze. _I'm so dead._

"Hey Anna.", Abby said as she leaned against a locker at the end of the row. "I was wondering when you would walk in here. You take fucking forever, you know that?"

"Ug...", I stood there frozen in place with wide eyes as Abby smiled wickedly. I was trapped in the rows, so I couldn't get away, even if I wanted to.

"Sorry I wasn't here earlier.", She apologized. "I meant to get you in the morning, but I was running an errand that needed my attention."

"Yeah, I noticed.", My stupid mouth said before I could stop it. But I didn't regret it, since I was upset at seeing her. It angered me that she was waiting here for me. It just wasn't fair and I was just plain sick of Abby as well.

"That big mouth of ours is gonna get you killed.", Abby said with a creepily calm smile.

"So I've been told.", I calmly replied. _I should shut up now_.

"So I've been doing some thinking.", She said as she slowly approached me. "It doesn't have to be this way."

"What do you mean?", I asked, despite my better judgment.

"I was thinking that if you just apologized, I'll leave you alone forever.", Abby stated with a cruel smile.

"And what if I don't", I asked through my anger. She was a couple feet from me now, but I wasn't backing off.

"It's a one way ticket to the hospital.", She answered. "I really don't want to have to do that, but you're leaving me with no other option girly."

I managed to keep my smart remark to myself this time around. Making progress here. This bitch apparently enjoys taunting me, but I wasn't gonna give her the satisfaction.

"So what do you say Anna Anderson?", She calmly asked. "Wanna call it a truce?", She held out her hand right in front of me and I stared at it.

I could yield and save myself or I stand up to her and get my ass kicked. Then I made my decision, I wasn't gonna let her get to me. I smirked at her with glaring eyes. "Fuck you.", I spat at her feet. _God, I'm stupid_.

"I had a feeling you would say that.", She smiled and the next I knew, I had the air blown out of my lungs and I was lying on the cold floor that used to be beneath me. I gasped for air, as I held my stomach. The pain was exploding there and I couldn't stop it. _Fuck, it hurts_. I shut my eyes to try to block out the burning fire of pain I was feeling in my stomach, but it wasn't working at all.

"What's the matter, Annie?", She asked mockingly as he knelt down to be at eye level with me. "You're looking a little pale."

I wanted to tell her off, but I couldn't get a word out, since I was still trying to get air back into my system. She grabbed me by the shirt and made me unwilling stand back up. I wanted to push her off, but she send her knee deep into my gut, right here it already hurted. I just wanted to die right then and there. It was as fucking painful as hell. I gasped for oxygen as tears prickled the edges of my eyes, but I wouldn't let them fall. I was too proud for that. This bitch wasn't gonna make me cry, ever.

"Just say you're sorry and it's over.", Abby said in a soothing voice that made me sick. This girl had major issues. My response was spitting in her face because fuck that bitch. Unfortunately for me, she slammed my head back hard against the metal locker behind me. The back of my head throbbed in pain and it made me go dizzy. I wanted to shriek, but I wasn't about to let her know I was hurt by it. She feeds off of it.

My vision went black for a fraction of a second. It didn't last long, but it was still scaring not being able to see when your eyes are opened. I just wanted to collapse, but Abby was holding me in place. Despite what was currently happening and that fact that my head was killing me, I was acutely aware of how the locker room got colder. I felt it was important, but I didn't know why. The air conditioner hadn't acted up all week since Monday, but why now of all times?

"Come on Anna, you're being as stubborn as the Ice Queen.", She said an annoyed voice. I didn't say anything to her as I glared at her stupid face. I could barely hear her with my pulse pounding loudly in my ears

"I was hoping you would be more fun, but sadly I'll have to teach you a thing or two.", She held her big fat fist ready to launch it at my face. _Okay, this is gonna hurt like hell_, I thought as I closed my eyes and braced myself for it. However all I heard was a loud smack in front of me, but that was it. Nothing more.

"What the hell?", Abby said confused. I was confused as well. I opened my eyes to see a gloved hand holding Abby's fist, just centimeters away from my face.

"Enough.", I heard the familiar soft, yet firm voice say next to me. _Shit, this just got real_.

* * *

**A/N: I know what you're thinking, perfect place to stop. ;)  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**WARNING!**

* * *

"_We all are prisoners, things couldn't get much worse._

_I've had it up to here, you know your end is near."_

_Had Enough -Breaking Benjamin_

* * *

Time seemed to stand still as I stared wide eyed at the scene in front of me. It was truly an unbelievable sight. If I wasn't here, I wouldn't have believed it myself. Abby stood there, staring dumbstruck at Elsa, who was still holding her fist in her gloved hand. I gulped so loudly, I was sure they both heard it. It seemed to pull Abby out of confusion and back to reality.

Slowly, her face turned into a satisfied grin. "So _it_ talks."

Elsa's expression remained blank. With her shades off, her icy blue eyes were in full view. Her eyes weren't on Abby nor even me, they were fixed on the contact between her hand and Abby's. I honestly had no idea how Elsa managed to effectively stop it in time, or even how she got in here without neither Abby nor I noticing. Slowly, Elsa released her hold on her and took a step back.

Abby's green eyes were now zoomed in on Elsa like a hawk. Without even so much as a glance, Abby pushed me to the ground as she took a step toward the blonde girl. "So number 19, what brings you here?", She took another step toward her and Elsa took another back, compromising the close distance between them. I didn't know Elsa at all, but I had pretty good idea of what she wasn't okay with. And that was people.

My blood started boiling in anger as I watched this happen. I appreciated the fact that Elsa came to my rescue, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if Abby had her way with her again. I just hated bullies with a passion. The idea of someone hurting someone just for the joys of it. It was just plain wrong.

"Hey Abby, I'm back here.", I stated as I stood up and glared at Abby's stupid face.

Abby snickered and turned my way. "Wait your turn.", She turned back to Elsa, who was still frozen in place. "The Ice Queen is my favorite."

"Hey you, fuck off.", I said as my stupid self tried to get her. The universe must hate me because Abby managed to pin me against the metal locker again. I struggled, but it was a failed endeavor. Abby was just stronger than me and I hated it.

"Feisty little runt, ain't ya?", Abby remarked as she made another move to hit me in the face, but I managed to move my head on time. She only got the side of my head, but it was better than the alternative of my face. The last thing I needed was a broken nose. Abby made another move, but stopped at the sound of the other person with us, who I had temporary forgotten about.

"Stop.", Elsa's voice sounded dry, like it was hard for her to speak at all.

Abby turned to her and smiled. _That bitch_. She tossed me aside and I think I might have just bruised my butt. She made her way to the blonde. "And what if I don't?", She asked tauntingly. "What will the great and powerful Ice Queen do to me if I don't?"

Elsa looked at the ground beneath her, her pale face in shame. I felt guilty for putting her in this position. If only I wasn't such an idiot sometimes. "Elsa just leave.", I blurted out without thinking. The last thing I wanted was for her to take my place. Maybe she could get help on the way out.

The icy eyes then moved slowly to Abby. I saw something flickered in them, but I wasn't sure what it was. All I knew for sure was it was fucking terrifying. It was identical to the forgotten glare she gave me in the restroom the other day. If it was directed at me, I would have probably ran out of here as soon as possible if I wasn't paralyzed by it. I honestly hoped that Abby had half a mind to drop it and leave immediately or else it might get ugly.

But of course, Abby had the brain of a T-Rex. She crossed her arms proudly and smirked. "I'm waiting."

Elsa's hands turned into tight balls of fist as she continued to stare Abby. "I will hurt you.", Her soft voice was firm and serious as hell. I felt my stomach drop at this.

The dark brown haired girl just laughed at what the blonde had just said. For some reason, I felt like I was the only one taking this seriously. "Will you now?", She continued to laugh as she stepped closer to Elsa. "You've been my punching bag since you moved here."

She stood right in front of Elsa, but Elsa wasn't backing off. She was staring at her head on. With them really closed to each other, I noticed how tall they both really here. I knew that Abby was like a 5' 9' or so. Elsa wasn't that much shorter, probably only an inch or two apart. I didn't like where this was going.

"Abby, I really don't think that-", I started nervously.

"Shut up!", She cut me off immediately. _Well, fuck_. "Let's have some fun, shall we?", She said to Elsa.

Without warning, Abby made a fist that quickly smacked Elsa right across her face. It echoed loudly in the empty locker room. Elsa never made a move to defend herself nor did anything for that matter. She didn't even blink. Her face did however move with the force of the punch and it stayed that way. Her cheek was now a dark shade of pink, and it looked pretty painful, but Elsa's expression was indifferent to it. _Did this girl just not feel anything?_ I was sure as hell I would have been crying at this. The back of my head was still hurting.

Slowly Elsa turned back to face Abby, her gaze never leaving the dark brown haired girl in front of her. Abby then made another move to hit her straight in the face, but Elsa was quicker and smarter. She just tilted her head to the right like it was nothing. This seemed to anger the taller girl. She made another move, but Elsa managed to grab her hand as it headed toward her like it was nothing. Again, I had no idea how she could stop it. Abby was strong and Elsa should have struggled with that. _Exactly how strong was Elsa behind those gloves of hers?_ Abby tried to retract her hand, but Elsa wasn't letting go.

"Let go you fucking bitch.", Abby murmured as she tried to hit her with her free left hand, but Elsa manged to grab that one as well. "Let go!", Abby growled under her breath as she strained against her hold.

Then without warning, Elsa swung Abby by her hands loudly on the metal locker. Abby shut her eyes as the back of her head hit the locker._ Karma's bitch_, I thought as I watched what was going on. This was really something else. Elsa let go and stepped back, giving Abby time to regroup herself.

Abby gritted her teeth as she angrily rubbed the back her head and glared at Elsa. Then an idea seemed to struck her as she gave Elsa a creepy smile. "You know what Elsa?", She asked but didn't wait for a reply. "I have a gift for you.", She reached into her pocket and pulled out a switchblade.

I gasped in horror at how much more serious this just got. Seriously, I knew Abby was crazy and all, but this was beyond what I've ever expected of her. "Are you insane?!", I said before I could stop myself.

Abby turned and smiled at me with dark eyes. The sharp blade was a shiny sliver and the grip of it was a royal blue. If I wasn't afraid that at any moment it would be put to use, I might have admired it. Abby snickered at me. "Nice ain't it?", She flashed it in the light. "I saw it while I was out town and thought of you Anna."

"Ug...", Exactly how does one reply to that?

"I was really hoping you would be the one on the receiving in, but the Ice Queen's just not giving me any choice.", She turned back to Elsa and smirked. "I'm going to really fuck you up.", She said threateningly and charged at the quiet blonde girl.

"Elsa watch out!", I cried out in fear. Elsa just looked at this like it was just another day, as if it were normal. She easily dodged coming blade that was aiming to her middle by quickly side-stepping it. As she did this, she grabbed the wrist that was holding the blade and twisted it roughly. Abby shrieked and dropped the blade on the floor. Elsa's grip on her turned to iron and squeezed Abby's wrist harder, her icy blue eyes dark in what I feared was anger.

Then she brought her fist straight into Abby's face. She shrieked as she held her nose with her free hand, a dark red liquid slipping through her her fingers. Then I heard a terrible cracking sound coming from the wrist and Abby screamed in agony. _Holy shit!_ Elsa wasn't showing any emotion toward this and continued this on her wrist.

"Please- st- stop!", Abby pleaded as she gasped for air while blood squirted through her fingers from her surely broken nose. "I promise to never bother you again."

But Elsa was having none of that and I getting more scared the longer I stood here watching this in horror. Elsa wasn't kidding around at all when she said she would hurt Abby. I closed my eyes as Elsa brought her shoe deep into Abby's gut, not holding back at all. Abby screamed and struggled about, but it was a failed endeavor. The blonde then roughly pulled at Abby's broken wrist and hit her on face once more. Finally Elsa let go of her broken wrist and kicked her once again.

Abby was now on the floor, holding her right wrist in her hands with blood still falling out of her broken nose. Elsa then brought her hand to Abby's pony and forced her to stand. Then she punched her across the face, sending her head to the side as well straying more blood to the floor. Then she pushed her away with all her strength. I wanted to stop this, but I was too petrified to move on my own.

Elsa stepped forward and Abby who crawled away in fear. Elsa crouched down and picked up the switchblade and eyed it with interest. Then her icy eyes fell on fearful wide green ones. She moved closer to her as Abby crawled back in fear until her back made contact with the wall. Elsa got on her knees right in front of her, placing her right hand on the wall next to Abby's bloody face as she skillfully opened and closed the switchblade right.

She swirled it around her hand before she tighten her grip on it, seeming to make up her mind. The next thing I knew, Elsa was bringing the blade toward Abby's face full force.

"Elsa no!", I screamed as did Abby out of fear. I closed my eyes then slowly opened them when I heard sobbing. I opened them to see Abby crying her eyes out, the blade buried deep in the wall dangerously closed to her face. Elsa was still on her knees right in front of her, her icy blue eyes glaring at Abby with a disgusted expression. _Oh, how the tables have turned_.

I felt so conflicted at this. Elsa had put Abby in her place, but the way she did it felt so wrong. She was purposely striking fear into her without a second thought. This Elsa was completely different from the one I was used to seeing. This one was even more intimating and pretty much a total badass. I had a feeling that she could do a lot more than just this, but I didn't want to know for sure.

"Elsa.", I called her, but it fell on deaf ears. "Come on, that's enough.", I walked over to her with trembling legs . Abby sobbing was quieter now as she trembled. Elsa really did a number on her. "You won, it's over."

Elsa ignored me like always, what a surprise. She then brought her right hand to her left wrist and slowly pulled her white glove down. I watched in anticipation as it went down her pale hand. _What is she doing?_ In Elsa's face, there was nothing but hatred and I didn't like it at all. I shivered a little at the sudden drop in temperature. Now that her hand was free of her glove, she slowly moved it toward Abby's neck and Abby shared wide eyed as leaned back against the wall.

"Stop!", She pleaded fearfully to the blonde as she cowered. But Elsa's bare hand was still slowly making its way toward Abby. I really didn't want to find out what Elsa was planning.

"Elsa stop.", I said sternly and reached for her arm. That was my mistake. Her ice cold arm send chills down my spine, but I chose to ignore it. Now her icy death glare was on me, but I wasn't going to let that get to me. "Just stop. Please."

That's when Elsa finally came to her senses and blinked. I watched nervously as she stood up and nodded. She quickly slipped her glove back on, her pretty face filled with shame. I let out a deep breath and relaxed. It was over. Abby was still rooted to the wall as she gazed at Elsa in fear.

Elsa shot her a sharp warning look that made her finch before she turned back to me and I froze a little. Before I could freak out, she turned away and slipped her shades back on. And the cool girl was back to her cool self. Her pale face was expressionless once again, but I think I saw some guilt in there. But I think that was wishful thinking.

"Elsa I-", I started, but the door held opened and teachers, as well as students came in. _Why does help always come when it's too late?_ At least this was finally over for sure. I glanced over to Elsa to see that she was leaning against the wall, waiting for the mess of explaining to begin.

* * *

"My god, what is this world coming to.", Mr. Woods, the principle, said behind his desk in disbelief. His office was huge. There were four chairs in front of his big desk that had many forms spread out. Mr. Woods looked like he was in his early forties and he had short chestnut hair.

I was sitting on the chair in the middle and had spent the past hour or so explaining what had happened and how it all started. It hard to convince him and everyone else because so far Abby was the only one who was seriously hurt with her broken wrist and bloody nose and all, it made her looked like the victim. And the fact that Elsa and I were standing over her didn't help our case. But they had Abby's past records of evidence of bullying, they also found the receipt for the switchblade in Abby's possession and then there was the fact that she wasn't at school all day. In short, the odds were stacked against her.

Elsa was on the chair farest from me, uninterested in what was going on. The only sign she gave that she was listening was nodding every now and then. At least she was backing me up. It made me less nervous about being in the same room with her. I didn't mind it too much, but I was a bit intimated, especially after seeing what she was capable of. But I was more confused by everything though. I needed to talk to her alone. Before I could say anything more, the door burst open and my mother rushed inside._ Oh boy, here we go_. I sighed deeply on the inside.

"Anna!", She quickly came next to my side and held me tight in her arms. She looked like she might have ran here because I could feel her panting. After that she took my face in her warm hands and started looking me over. Probably over for any injuries or signs of discomfort. "Are you alright? No pain, cuts, anything?"

"No Mom.", I chuckled. "I didn't get hurt that much.", I said as I remembered the bruise that was surely forming on my stomach, I could still feel it actually. I would probably start feeling it more in the morning.

"Well, good then.", She said with relief clear in her voice. "I got a call saying that you were in a fight...", She paused, lost in thought and then narrowed her eyes at me. "What do you mean, by 'that much'?", She asked, worried once again.

"Ahem.", Mr. Woods loudly cleared his throat to get my mom's attention. "Ms. Anderson, sorry for everything that's happened.", Then he turned to Elsa, who was staring at the wall next to her. "Miss Macbeth, would be you please go wait outside?", Elsa didn't even look his way as she stood and silently left the room.

"Exactly what happened?", My mother demanded once Elsa had closed the door behind her. She took a seat next to mine. Mr. Woods told her everything that had happened and didn't hold back on the details. I wish he would have because by the time he was finished, my mom had me glued to her side for protection. Not that I minded, I loved my mother, but it was a bit embarrassing sometimes. Good thing that Mr. Woods had asked Elsa to leave. My mom's face had turned to that of horror when he brought up the switchblade and the fact that it was intended for me.

"Just what kind of school you guys running here?!", She said angry. She wanted to stand, but I was holding her down. One thing you need to know about my mom was that you never mess with her kids, even if we were guilty.

"I'm sorry Ms. Anderson, but-", Mr. Woods stated, but was quickly cut off.

"My baby could have been injured, killed even!", I don't think I've ever truly seen my mom this upset.

"Mom, I'm not a-", I started, but she also cut me off.

"And you!", She pointed a finger at me.

"Me?", I asked confused. "What did I do?"

She glared at me with her hazel eyes. "You didn't tell me that you were in danger!"

"Sorry.", I mumbled. I wanted to argue, but she was my mom. One thing I've learned over the years is that I can never win an argument with her. Even if I was right, she could still turn it on me.

"Ms. Anderson, please calm down.", Mr. Woods said cautiously.

"Tell me.", My mother said crossing her arms across her chest. "Exactly what do you plan to do about this student that tried to hurt my little girl?"

"Mom.", I groaned with my face red and she hushed me. Right now I wanted to hug her, but at the same time run away from her.

"Well the harassing of other students is enough to expel her.", Mr. Woods stated. "And bringing a weapon on campus with the full intention of using it seals the deal."

"Good. You do that.", My mother said, clearly satisfied with Abby's punishment. It surprised me that she wasn't calling the cops right now, or demanding Abby's arrest.

I had a faint feeling that Abby wouldn't mind her punishment one bit. When we were being led out of the locker room, she wouldn't even look in Elsa's direction. She just wanted to be as far away from her as she could. I know I would if I had been in her place. Abby was currently in ER, probably getting a cast and those things they put on broken noses. Elsa really did a number on her.

"Will Anna be suspended?", She asked and I looked up. I hadn't really thought about that.

"No she won't.", Mr. Woods said. "But the other student will."

"Wait what?!", I said in disbelief. I didn't think Elsa deserved that. "Elsa's the only reason I'm not in the ER right now."

"That may be true.", He said. "But regardless of that, her behavior was rather too violent for the school board to let it slide by."

"Bullshit.", I said in anger. This was really unfair. Abby had it coming. It was rough and all, but that bitch had it coming.

"Anna! Watch your mouth.", My mother scolded me and then turned to Mr. Woods. "I apologized for my daughter's language."

"It's fine. Your girl's tamed compared to others.", He said smiling and I scoffed. "I will need you to sign some papers."

"Of course.", She said as she leaned in to sign them.

"Can I go?", I asked. I didn't want to be in there a second longer. He nodded and I struggled out of my mom's hold and then I was out.

When I went out, I saw that Alice was waiting inside the office. I found it ironic that she was sitting on the same chair as the first day of school when her and I were waiting for Mrs. Parker to get our class schedule. That day felt like years ago. As soon as she saw me she got up and came toward me.

"Anna!", Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around me, which caught me a little off guard. "You're alright!"

"Yes, I'm alright.", I chuckled as I hugged her back. It made me all warm and fuzzy inside that she cared that much.

"Good.", She said as she let me go. "That means I can do this.", Before I could react, she sternly punched me where in the same spot Abby had hit me earlier. "And that's for being an idiot and not answering your damn texts."

"Easy!", I said as I winced at the renewed pain. "I didn't go completely unscratched."

"I'm sorry, not sorry that I just hurt you.", Alice with a smug expression.

"Well fuck you then.", I said to her with a smirk.

"Fuck you too sis.", She said smiling. "So where's Mom?"

"In Mr. Woods office, she had to sign some papers.", I answered.

"So is it true that Elsa totally kicked Abby's butt?", She asked a little to excited.

"She-", I stopped when the door opposite to us opened and a certain platinum blonde walked in. I shared at her she walked across the room. When she passed me, her icy eyes were on me for a fraction of a second, before turning their attention back to the front of her. Once she was through the other door for a couple seconds Alice grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to her.

"What was that?!", She practically demanded.

"What do you mean?", I asked uncertainly.

"She looked at you.", She said and I rolled my eyes.

"Well duh. It's kind of my fault she fought Abby and is getting suspended for it.", I told her.

"Was she that bad?", Alice asked curiously.

"Let's just say Abby's got some broken bones and leave it at that.", I wasn't in the mood to go into detail of what had happened in the locker room again. Alice chuckled, but then her eyes widen when she saw that I wasn't kidding. Before she could say anything, Mom came through the door.

"Alright let's go girls.", She said and we left the building to the parking lot. My mom's black car was parked closer to the entrance. I turned to Alice and gestured to Mom's car with my eyes. She gave me a questioning look, but then nodded in agreement anyway, just like I knew she would. She headed toward the passenger side of the black car, while I headed to my own, but then stopped.

"Mom, I need to go get my book.", I said a little too quickly. If she was looking at me, she would have seen I was lying, but thankfully she was searching her bag for the keys.

"Alright, we're gonna go. Just catch up.", She replied and I screamed in joy on the inside. Alice shot me a knowing smirk.

I headed inside the building. Instead of going to the hallway where the lockers were, I turned in the direction of the office. It was empty saved for the secretary. Then I headed toward the door that Elsa had gone through earlier. It led me to a small hallway that had like five doors. I didn't know which one would be the one that Elsa went to.

I decided to read the names of the doors. Four of the doors had the names of councilors. The fifth one read _Nurse's Office_. I was about to knock when I stopped midair. I honestly felt stupid for doing this, but I needed to talk to Elsa. I took a deep breath and reached for the handle instead. I opened it to find the lights out since it was empty. The silence that met me convinced me farther that no one was in there at all.

"Looking for someone?", A female voice behind me said that made me jump. She was wearing a white dress shirt over her black skirt and her curly black hair was tied up in a bun behind her head. She also had glasses with swirly patterns on the sides. Her tag read _Nurse Connors._

"No!", I replied and face palmed my myself. "I mean yes, yes I am. I'm looking for Elsa Macbeth. And I thought that she was in here."

"She just left about minute ago.", She informed me.

"Oh okay, I guess I'll be going then.", I said nervously and started walking away. I stopped when the curiosity got the best of me. "Um Ms. Connors?"

"Yes?", She asked as she was about to head inside her office.

"What was Elsa doing in there?", I asked. Elsa wasn't hurt, so I saw no reason for her to need to see her. Unless those rumors of her needing to take those pills were true.

Ms. Connors shot me a knowing look. "Can't say. It's between her and I."

"Oh, okay.", I knew it was a long shot, but worth a try right? I excused myself and left. I headed to my locker because I really did need to get my book. Once I had in my hand I headed toward the exit.

Outside, I came face to face with her. She was standing right in front of me unmoving. It was almost as if she was expecting me. She had her dark blue backpack on and on one hand she was carrying her skateboard, while the other held her phone and earphones.

I wanted to move aside, but I couldn't. I needed to get this out of the way, so I looked into her icy blue eyes and asked the question that's been haunting me for nearly a week, and even more so after what happened in the locker room. "Why?"

She didn't answer, her expression not giving any hints. Her blue eyes looking at me, but I felt like she wasn't really there for some reason.

"You had the power to stop her anytime you wanted, yet you didn't. Why is that?", I hoped that I didn't sound upset, even though I kind of was. I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Elsa allowed Abby to do all that stuff to her on purpose. It didn't make sense.

She shrugged, not really caring. How could she just make this like it was no big deal. This was a huge deal. Maybe I was making mountains out of molehills here, but I just needed to know.

I scoffed and pointed at the 19 on her black jacket. "You have issues.", I said angrily. I didn't know why I was mad at her. It wasn't my business anyway, but I couldn't help it. I nearly got my ass kicked today because she _chose_ to let Abby bully her. I walked past her toward my car, not waiting her to answer. She never talks anyway.

"I know.", I heard the soft voice behind me. I nearly tripped since it caught me completely off guard.

"Wait what?", I turned around to face her. She turned to face me as well. She opened her mouth to speak again, but then thought better of it and closed it to my disappointment. My teal eyes met hers and I held her gaze. Her face was so sincere, and nice. It quickly made me feet guilty for getting mad at her. She did come to my rescue after all. I didn't tell her to come help me, but she did anyway because she wanted to. Sure, she was little too violent and all, but it kind of was for the right reasons. I mean, Abby had a freaking _switchblade_ in her hand, ready for some stabbing and cutting. And I think Abby learned her lesson about messing with people and probably wouldn't do it again. Elsa had just put an end to the torment of Abby's future victims. In a weird messed up way, she practically cured Abby of her stupidity.

As suddenly as it happened, Elsa blinked and turned away. She must have realized as well as I that we had been standing here staring at each other for almost a minute. She shrugged and threw her skateboard on the ground.

"Elsa wait!", I called her out, but the cool girl ignored me and hopped on her board. I wanted to yell at her and tell her to stop, but instead, I sighed and watched her as she quickly picked up speed and got smaller with the distance.

I forced my eyes to turned away from Elsa and headed to my car. But Elsa wouldn't get out of my head. The girl who I thought hated the world saved me. She was cold and heartless in the way she handled it, but her intentions were good. Adding that in, I just didn't understand her and I had no idea who Elsa was. She was always hiding her face behind those dark shades, hiding her touch with those gloves, hiding her voice whenever she could with closed lips. She talks to no one and even refuses to listen to others with those earphones of hers.

As I started the car and drove out of school, I tried to push her out of my head, but began thinking more about that quiet blonde loner even more. And even more so about my new questions about her. _Elsa was a strange one alright._

* * *

**A/N: I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! And thank you to all who are following, favoriting, reviewing, and reading. You're all awesome and I love you all!**


	8. Chapter 8

"_Say Hey, goodbye yesterday._

_Well, if life don't go your way_

_Maybe it's time to take a break."_

_One way Ticket -Carrie Underwood_

* * *

I looked down when I felt my phone vibrate in the pocket of my jeans and took it out. It was a text from Steve.

_Be outside in five minutes_

I smiled at it. I was glad to see that Abby's stupidity didn't interfere with the plans I had with my friends. After they found out what happened, they wanted to cancel and that touched my heart. But I couldn't do that to them. Besides, I needed a good distraction and I had hours to kill. Marshall had made it a rule that we wouldn't bring up school or any issues for the night, which was an awesome idea. And it was a good thing too because Elsa wouldn't get out my head. Hopefully I would be able to clear my head and maybe stop thinking about the blonde. I replied back to Steve.

_Okay_

The school game wouldn't start for another hour or so, but Marshall wanted to go early to get a good parking spot and also for decent seats as well. I had spent most of the afternoon answering my mom's various questions. When that was over, thank goodness, I had gone to my room to find something to watch on TV.

Of course that was over when Alice came in with her stupid video game. I honestly didn't see what was so great about it. Well scratch that, the graphics look amazing and the storyline was awesome and beautiful, I've even gotten emotional a couple times. So now here I was. Lying on my bed and watching my sister play. I made fun of her every time she got killed because it's freaking hilarious. I just can't help it.

After being on my bed a long time, I finally get up. "So are you gonna come or not?", I asked her. She was lying on her stomach on my bed with her legs in the air.

"Nah, I'm busy.", She replied as the girl in the screen chased a deer.

I stared at her in disbelief, "You're obsessed with that game.", I said to her. My sister was a total geek sometimes.

"Am not.", She said, not looking away from the TV. "I can stop whenever I want."

"Stop right now then.", I smirked and crossed my arms.

"Do you have any idea how hard I've worked to get here!", She exclaimed a little too loudly. "This is really getting good. Besides why on Earth would I stop right now?"

"Because I'm about to leave and I don't trust you in my room all alone.", I said as I opened the small doors to the closet.

"Anna, it's not like I snoop around your room and try on your clothes while you're away.", Her eyes were still fixed on the screen.

"Oh yeah?", I said sarcastically. "What about that one time last year?"

"It was one time.", She defended herself with a red face. "Get over it."

"And just the other day when you borrowed my shirt without asking?", I listed it to her.

"You told me yourself you didn't like it.", She tried to reason.

"Doesn't mean I don't want to wear it.", I said crossing my arms.

"You're just jealous that it looks a lot better on me.", She said with a smirk on her face.

"I should really convince Mom to get you your own TV.", I told her as I took out my green jacket. "Maybe then you won't spend so much time in here."

"Do that and I will love you forever. But I don't think that will work since we've always shared a room together.", She said. "Breaking that lifelong habit is pretty hard."

"So what you're saying, is that I can't get you out of here?", I asked for clarification.

"Pretty much.", She said with a smug expression.

"And why is it that I'm a little okay with that?", I asked playfully.

"Because I'm such an awesome person to have around, duh.", She said confidently and I rolled my eyes at her.

She groaned when her character got hurt and died by the looks of it. "I blame you.", She accused.

"I'm not that distracting.", I huffed as I slipped the green jacket on. "Why don't you go to the living room?"

"Because Mom is there watching something.", She said and stuck her tongue out at me.

"Oh right, I forgot. Silly me.", I said sarcastically. "Little Alice doesn't want Mother to that the game is too violent for her."

"Shut up.", She mumbled as her hands pressed the buttons tightly. It was miracle that she hadn't already broken them. "So I'll see you later then?"

"Yeah, I guess.", I said to her.

She paused her game and turned to me, her face serious. "Be careful alright."

I smirked. "I was born careful!"

"That's not what happened today.", Her voice was quiet.

For some reason, I still didn't seem to realized how freaked out Alice was by all of this. Maybe I was just slower than usual today. "I'll be careful. Besides Marshall and Steve will be there."

"Yeah I guess.", She said and then smiled. "Wanna make a bet?"

"I don't know.", I said uncertainly.

"Why, are you too chicken?", Alice teased.

"No, I'm being smart.", I said. "But you know what, sure, let's do it. I bet you twenty that we'll win."

"You're on.", Alice said confidently and we shook hands.

"When I come back, you better be ready with my money.", I said to her.

"When you come back, you better not have spend my money.", She resorted and turned back to her game.

I chuckled at her serious voice. "I guess I'll see you later then."

"Alright. Bye then.", She told me. "By the way, I promise I won't go through your dairy."

"Thank you so much for deciding not to go through my junk.", I said in mock gratitude and left to her to continue her activity. Down in the living room, I met my mom who was sitting on the couch going through her laptop. The TV was on with the news people talking about the sudden cold wind that was coming into town.

"I'm gonna go now.", I said to her as headed to the door. "They'll be here any minute."

"You have your cellphone?", She asked while looking at me with her hazel eyes.

I took it out of my back pocket. "Yes I do."

"My number as well as everyone's else?", She asked.

I showed her my contacts. "Yup. And in my head too."

"Money?", She asked.

I took out the Jackson out of my right pocket. "Checked."

"You know your way home?", She asked.

"You bet.", I said proudly.

"Okay.", She looked a little relieved that I did. I know we were still kind of new to town and all, but I have been driving myself to and from school. "If something, anything, happens at all, please call me alright."

"It's just a game.", I said and she suddenly gave me a sharp look. "I promise to call and not keep secrets.", I opened the front door to head out. "Later Mom!"

"Bye hon.", She smiled with worried eyes. "And be careful!", She added as I went out.

"I will!", I said as I closed the door. I couldn't help but smile like a total dork right now. It was a miracle that she was letting me go out at all with the whole fight thing in the locker room. She was still pretty worried that I had almost gotten hurt and was pretty upset that I didn't tell her what was happening.

I knew she didn't want me to go out tonight, but she still trusted me enough to let me go. My mom can be crazy protective of me, but she knew where the line was and that was one of the many things I loved about her. I sat on the chair on the porch and waited for my ride to arrive.

A minute later, a gray mini van came around the corner at full speed. I had no idea how it managed to turn the corner that fast without flipping over. Another interesting thing about it was the music. It was so damn loud, I could feel the vibrations of it on my entire body. Even made my teeth shatter, like I was at a club or something. Suddenly, it stopped in front of my house and the black passenger window rolled down, releasing the music monster at me.

Steve's smiling face popped out of the window. "Hop in, Anna!", He yelled over Marshall's 80's music. Steve was excited because he was a huge football fan.

I approach the loud van cautiously. I'm gonna be honest here and say that I was kind of having second thoughts here, mostly because of Marshall's driving. "Is it safe?", I asked like an idiot without thinking.

"It's totally safe!", Steve yelled with a goofy grin. Marshall who was the one driving, turned the music down and leaned in toward Steve to see me.

"Don't worry Anna.", She said loudly. "I'm safe driver."

"That's debatable.", Steve chuckled.

"Don't pay any attention to him.", Marshall playfully punched Steve on his arm. "I'm an excellent driver!", She said proudly. I highly doubted that, but I'll just take her word for it.

"Alright.", I shrugged and slid the door open. The inside was as messy as my room, but whatever, I wasn't a clean freak.

"Of course...", Marshall trailed off uncertainly as I closed the door behind me. "My instructor probably just said that to get me out of his life forever."

"Wait what?!", I said surprise as I heard the door automatically locked.

"I mean, the poor old guy nearly had a stoke on my third try.", Marshall said to herself, completely oblivious to me trying to unlock the door so I could open it and get out. "Oh well, the past is in the past.", She shrugged to herself.

"Anna, I highly recommend you buckle up.", Steve said warningly. Just then, Marshall suddenly stepped on the gas pedal, the van jerking forward. The force of that pushed me hard against my seat. _Shit_, I thought with wide eyes as I saw the stop sign that was head and the fact that Marshall wasn't slowing down at all.

I really didn't want to go flying out the windshield like a test dummy, so I started feeling around for the seat-belt in the mess. _Seriously, where is it?!_ Then I felt the cold metal on my fingertips and grabbed it. _Thank god_. I struggled with my seat-belt when she suddenly made a sudden turn to the right, the force pushing me toward the left, hard against the wall of the van.

"Ow.", I grunted at the pain on my shoulder.

"Oh Anna.", Marshall said suddenly. "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but my-", She was cut short when small hands grabbed me from behind.

"Ah!", I screamed as I flinched away, resulting me lying now on the floor of the van with no doubt in my mind that Marshall was breaking the speed limit. I looked over to see a little boy laughing at my expense. He had jet black hair, just like Marshall. He was a little pale, but not too much, and had light blue eyes, unlike his older sister's gray ones. He was also like the cute little boy version of Marshall. I wanted to be mad at him for scaring me, but he was too adorable and the fact that he was grinning widely with his buck teeth didn't help.

"Marshall's little brother is tagging along.", Steve explained as he checked his phone for something.

"Mom and Dad are going out tonight and didn't want to leave the little devil alone, so I'm playing babysitter tonight.", Marshall explained as she looked over at us through the mirror. "Hope you don't mind."

"I don't.", I said as I got up and sat on my seat.

"Hi, I'm Olaf!", He waved his hand.

"Hi, I'm Anna.", I awkwardly said to him.

"Sorry for scaring you.", He apologized. "You're not scared of me now, are you?"

"No I'm not.", I said and smiled to reassure him. "You're kind of cute actually."

"Thank you! You're cute too.", He said cheerfully.

I chuckled. "Thank you.", Then I remembered that Marshall was still breaking speed limits here and there was another intersection up ahead. This made me nervous and I fiddled with my seat-belt on yet again. _Damn it_.

"I'll help you.", Olaf said innocently as he hopped over the seat.

"Olaf, stop stepping on the seats.", Marshall scolded her brother and I chuckled when I saw his little face turn pink, but he was still smiling. "And put your seat-belt while you're at it. I don't need another child endangerment talk with Dad."

"Okay Marshmallow!", He said happily as he sat next to me. Steve and I burst out laughing at Olaf's adorable nickname for her.

"Marshmallow?", I snickered at Marshall's red face.

"Shut up.", She mumbled as she stopped at a red light.

"Hey Olaf?", Steve called the little boy.

"Yes Captain?", He said cheerfully.

"Tell me why you call Marshall that.", Steve said with a wicked grin and Marshall groaned in annoyance and glared at Steve.

"I swear to god Steve, you're asking for it.", She said angrily.

"What you say?", The small boy asked.

"Nothing.", Marshall said quickly, but gave a knowing glare to Steve.

"So what's the story Olaf?", Steve said despite Marshall's stormy gray eyes.

"When we were little, uh littler.", Olaf said as he counted his fingers. "Marshall had to dress up a like president, so she told Mom to buy her marshmallows. Then my big sister went the microwave and melted them.", Olaf paused when Marshall turned the music up so I wouldn't hear it.

Steve, being evil tonight, turned it down and urged Olaf to continue his sister's embarrassing story.

Olaf smiled and keep going. "Anyway she put it all over her hair because she wanted it white like the president in the picture."

I chuckled at the thought of Marshall like that."Then what happened.", I asked curiously and Olaf seemed to love the attention.

"So then our mom came and saw the big mess that she had made. It was all over the floor and microwave wouldn't work anymore.", The kid said. "And Marshall was all big and scary, almost like the monster in the closet I thought that used to live there.", The ten year old spread his arms above his head and roared. "She was the big bad marshmallow monster!"

Steve and I laughed the funny face the kid made. _Oh my god_. This was freaking hilarious. And Marshall's beet red face was helping at all. By the time we had calmed down, my cheeks hurted from laughing too much and my eyes were a bit blurry with tears.

"Oh there's more!", Olaf say excitedly.

"Hey God?", Marshall said to the ceiling of the van. "Can you me a favor and strike me down right now.", Marshall said with pleading eyes. I felt bad her, almost made me want to tell Olaf to stop. Almost.

"Well, they couldn't get the stuff out of her hair, so they had to cut it all off.", He said.

"All of it?", I asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, she really was a marshmallow after that.", Olaf said and I felt bad for my friend, so I tried hard not to laugh anymore. But it was impossible. "It was cool that my hair was longer than hers for once."

"Um Olaf?", Marshall said casually. I could feel the anger radiating off of her.

"Yeah?", He asked, completely oblivious to Marshall's anger.

"Remember that little talk about things you say and shouldn't say about me to others?", She asked slowly.

"Yeah, why?", He asked curiously.

"Because all the things you just said fall under that category.", She answered.

"Yeah, why?", The little boy asked and Marshall's expression turned hard. "Marshall, are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine.", Marshall said sarcastically.

"I'm glad you're perfect.", Olaf said happily and his sister face-palmed herself at his little innocence. Steve and I chuckled at this sight. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I think I saw Marshall's left eyebrow twitch.

"You alright Marshmallow?", Steve teased and Marshall punched him in the gut. He hunched over his seat and moaned in pain._ Ouch_. She smiled brightly at that.

"Hey Olaf, guess what?", Marshall asked suddenly, while looking at me. _Oh no, what is she planning?_

"What?", The boy asked excitedly.

"Anna has a sister and she knows stories about her.", She said with an evil smile. I think I knew where this was going, unfortunately.

"Wow really!", He jumped in his seat a little and then turned to me. "Can I meet your sister, Anna?"

"No, sorry, she uh...hates people. Yeah that's it, she hates people.", I said nervously. "And she's really mean too, you wouldn't want to meet her at all."

"It's okay, I like all kinds of people.", Olaf said grinning.

"Trust me, Alice is really really mean.", I think that a miracle was an order right about now.

"Her name is Alice?", Olaf asked. "I don't know anyone named Alice, I want to meet her even more now."

"Uh, maybe someday.", I said to him. It wasn't a direct answer, but hopefully he would stop now.

"Okay.", The boy seemed satisfied. "Marshmallow, can you turn the music up?"

"Music for Olaf coming right up.", Marshall said happily while giving me a knowing smirk through the mirror. I gulped. I hoped that Alice had half a mind not share my embarrassing childhood stories, but I knew my sister. She wouldn't passed the chance. I was so dead.

* * *

Once we were in, we made over way to the student section. I could see Kristoff in his football gear warming up with the others. His jersey was white with all the print in forest green. The short had his surname Bjordman and his number which was 27. The pants were a matching forest green and the shoes were black.

On the other side, the rival team was warming up as well. Their uniform looked fairly the same as our school. But instead of forest green, they were in navy blue. They were kind of scary looking, since they were all huge, even from far away. Just I shrugged it off. I needed to keep a positive attitude toward this, even though it wouldn't make a difference.

The four of us just talked until the game started. It got full really fast. We also painted our faces green with the stuff that Steve gave us. It was itchy as it dried, but then it stopped. The game was pretty awesome and loud.

The band people were on the bleachers right next to us. They played something for every little thing that happened. If someone fell, they had a tune for it. If they kicked the ball, another tune. But it was fine, expect for one thing. And they were known as the drummers, they got my nerves. I honestly didn't have a problem with them, but they were a little too loud. But I think it was because I was literally a couple feet away from them. I think my ears popped every time they did their thing. Hopefully I won't suffer hearing lost later.

By the time halftime started, the sun had gone down and it would have been pitch black if not for the beams lights that were lighting up the place. We were losing, but it wasn't hopeless. They were only ahead by one. I wanted to stay for the halftime show, but I really had to hit the lady's room. Shouldn't have drank those two cans of soda.

The only way to exit the bleachers was to go all the way to the top and use the stairs that were there because the exits on the bottom were blocked. Once I got to the top, I found it amazing. When we got to the giant stadium, I didn't get the chance to take it all in, but now I did. I could see everything and anything. It also really put everything into perspective. Like the pine trees that surround the whole place and all the people that showed up, it was nearly full. I stayed there a for a moment to take in the sight. The lights, the cheering, and the cool summer air. It was all very nice and it all felt so right.

When I got that out of my system, I looked to where the restrooms were. When I found them, I frowned in annoyance. There was a huge line. Never mind that, a line sounded too civilized for what I was seeing. It was more of a giant crowd. I bet I could easily spent a half-hour just waiting there. Instead of heading there, I turned around to look at the field. Might as will watch from here and then go to the restrooms when it's over. Hopefully there would be less people by then.

I saw that it was fill with the cheerleaders of the other school, all wearing navy blue and white. Steve had mentioned earlier that the schools switched halftime performances every year. Last year, the cheerleaders from Arendelle South High were the ones on the field. And now it was them. I settled on leaning against the railing to watch.

_Time to see what routine they were do_, I thought to myself. Some were facing this side while some some faced the opposite way so that everyone will enjoy the show, I guess. Maybe it was just me, but their outfits seemed a little too revealing. All those long smooth legs and arms. And the butts, I could practically see them from all the way up here. I thought it was a little too much, honestly. They were taking weird poses as well. It was weird, because it looked very familiar. Too familiar actually but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Give it up for the Arendelle High Varsity Cheerleaders!", The announcements said. Music then started playing loudly for everyone to hear.

"My anaconda don't!", The speakers sang. _The fuck?!_ My eyes widen at the sight of the 'dance' they were doing. _Is this even legal?_ "My anaconda don't want none unless you've buns hon!"

My face got hot as I watched on, my eyes dazed in what was happening. I looked over at where my friends were. Steve seemed to be enjoying himself, a little too much, judging by the way his mouth was half opened.

Marshall, on the other hand, was shaking her head in disapproval with furious eyes as she covered Olaf's eyes with her hands. Olaf struggled against her, but she wasn't letting up. I guess I would be doing the same if I had an innocent ten year old brother. I don't think I even wanted Alice to see teenage girls shaking their asses for everyone.

Taking my eyes off of them was, for some reason, harder than it should have been. It was just plain hard not to look. _Weird_, I thought to when I finally managed to look away, I decided to just go waste my time in the restroom for the next half-hour. I was feeling weird just standing here watching this um performance. It was even making my stomach turn a little. As I headed there, I saw a guy running to the empty parking lot. I felt my face get hot when I noticed that he had hand pressed tightly against his crotch. Apparently he was enjoying the cheerleaders a little too much. Poor guy.

After forever when I was finally out, I checked my phone as I walked back. My sister had sent a text asking for the score so far. I was about to text back when I bumped into someone. "Sorry.", I mumbled as I tried to move to the side, however, he moved with me. I moved the other way and he purposely blocked my way. Seeing how this guy wanted my attention, I looked up from my phone and I think my heart stopped for a moment.

He was freaking hot! He had dark auburn hair that was smoothly combed back, along with sideburns. It was kind of weird to see those in this century, but they looked good on him with his facial structure. He was way taller than me and I could almost see his muscular chest under his black T-shirt. He reminded me those ancient Greek statues because this guy was a piece of art. And then there was his gorgeous face and his bright green eyes that sealed the deal. Just him gazing at me made my stomach do a million somersaults.

"H- hi hi", I stuttered and mentally face-palmed my forehead. _Really Anna?!_

"Hi there.", He flashed a smile with a perfect set of white teeth. "Sorry I bumped into you."

"No no no no", I said quickly. "It was all my fault. I wa- wasn't looking where I was going.", I cleared my throat after this.

"It's alright. Wanna walk back?", He asked like a gentlemen.

Not trusting my mouth to not say something stupid and my voice to to not not crack, I simply nodded. He smiled and we walked back to the bleachers together.

"I couldn't help but noticed that you're rooting for Arendelle South High.", He commented.

"I am.", I smiled when I noticed that I didn't stumble on my words. "I just moved here over the summer and now I go there."

"Interesting.", He commented.

"How?", I asked.

"I go there as well, but I've missed the first two weeks since I just got here this afternoon.", He explained.

"Where did you go?", I asked before I could stop myself. "I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Completely your choice. I mean if you do want to tell me, then fire away, but if you don't want to...I'll shut up now.", I looked away, my face beet red. It was normal for me to word vomit, but I hadn't done that in forever. Why now of all times? _Because there's a hot guy talking to you_, the other side of my head told me.

He laughed. "It's alright. I find it cute."

I chuckled nervously. "Um thank you?"

"My parents sent me away to my grandparents' place in Europe.", He said. "It's a beautiful place over there."

"I can imagine.", I commended.

"You should go there if you ever get the chance.", He said smiling. He opened his mouth to say something more, but then a phone started ringing loud. He gave me genuine apologetic look. "I have to go. I'm sorry."

"It's alright.", I said quickly. "I guess I'll see you around."

"I'll see you around as well.", He said. He turned halfway and then faced me again. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Oh, um it's Anna Anderson.", I answered.

"That name is almost as beautiful as you.", He said and I blushed even more. "I'm Hans West, by the way.", He informed me. He playfully poked the tip of my nose with his index finger. "And I will see you around."

As he disappeared into the crowd, I couldn't help but stare like a total dork. I kept wondering if he liked me. He did tell me he would see me around, didn't he? But then, what if he was just trying to let me down easy and be nice and really didn't mean any of that? I decided to just stop and not worry about it and just go enjoy the game. I mean that was the purpose of coming here, to clear my head. But something kept lingering in the back of my head. Hans West. _Why does that sound familiar?_ I decided to push that question away. If it's important, I'll remember.

My friends were standing where I had left them. Except now Steve was holding Olaf in his arms, the boy's head resting on his shoulder. He appeared to be sleeping. Marshall had her phone in her ear, while her free hand was covering her other ear to block out the sounds. I think she was trying to contact her parents.

"Hey guys!", I greeted them. "I'm back."

Marshall smiled at me when I got back to them. "Someone took their sweet time."

"What?!", I said playfully. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You nearly missed the whole third quarter.", Steve informed me as he moved the boy's head to his other shoulder. "Kristoff knocked several guys down."

"You should have seen that monster of a line.", I informed. Marshall seemed to understand, but Steve looked at me skeptically. "It's true.", I said to him.

"Sure it is.", He smirked. "When I go, it goes faster."

"That's because you're a guy.", I reasoned.

"What's that supposed to mean?", He asked as he narrowed his brown eyes behind his glasses.

"Guys have it too easy. Girls have to go in, drop their pants, and sit on the toilet.", I informed him. "All you have to do is stand there and let nature take it's course."

"Look at Anna, telling the Captain off.", Marshall said laughing.

"It's not as easy as it sounds especially when the urinals are all out in the open for everyone to see you.", Steve said. His face was red through his tanned face.

"I won't argue with that logic.", I said to him.

He was about to say something back when Marshall cut him short. "Alright you two, that's enough. Let's just enjoy Kristoff getting knocked down every twenty seconds."

"Fine.", Steve grunted and pouted as he held Olaf close to him. "It's just you and me against the girls, buddy."

Then an alarm sound suddenly went off. It was a miracle we didn't miss it, due to all the noise around us.

"My turn.", Marshall said as she reached for her little brother. They carefully and slowly exchanged the sleeping boy without waking him up.

"So are you guys taking turns or something?", I asked curiously.

"Yeah, the little devil can never sit through a full game.", Marshall said in an annoyed tone that didn't matched the adoring smile she was giving her brother. "Good thing he's small for his age, or this would be a much harder task."

"By the way Anna", Steve said to me as he checked his watch. "Your shift starts in approximately twenty minutes."

"Think you can handle it Anna?", Marshall asked with a raise eyebrow.

"Excuse me ma'am.", I said playfully. "But I can handle anything."

"We'll see them.", She said smiling. "But please don't drop my brother.", She added in a half serious tone and I laughed.

We continued to watch the game. I think I winced every time Kristoff was knocked down by the guy that was bigger than him. But thankfully he didn't get hurt at all. Not only was Kristoff a great player but he was also very nice about it. Like he would help the guys of the opposite team up when he could. I knew he wasn't doing that to appear great to the audience, because I knew him and he really was a great guy. He makes conceited comments every now and then when the time calls for it, but he's never dead serious about them. In short Kristoff was an awesome person to have as a friend and the team was lucky to have him.

In the end, we were the winners and the crowd on our side went wild. I was sure that I now had some sort of permanent ear damage because there was a faint buzzing noise on the inside of both my ears. Somehow during the game, someone managed to distribute confetti to everyone on the bleachers. Long story short, it looked like it was snowing here. And the confetti covered me and everyone around from head to toe. I even had it on the inside of my clothes. During the chaos, someone behind me, I couldn't see who, grabbed my shirt by the neck and poured the confetti in. It was very uncomfortable as it tickled down my sensitive back.

Olaf, who I had been holding, woke up with all the commotion. At least now I didn't have to hold him, which I didn't mind too much, since he was really light. He was excited to hear that we had won and wouldn't stop jumping up and now. He had picked up confetti from the ground and was playfully throwing it at Marshall, trying to make her black hair appear white with confetti. When he saw me laughing, he threw some at me. After a lot of cheering and yelling, the four of us went down to see Kristoff.

"There's my little cheering squad!", Kristoff said happily when he saw us approaching him. He looked very fine considering all the times he was knocked down. His head was bathed in sweat, and was also in dirt patches here and there. Some parts of his shirt were green from being scraped against the grass so many times.

"And there our little blondie.", Marshall said in a teasing tone and we all laughed. "Glad to see you didn't go for a nap this time."

Kristoff laughed. "Someone's not ever gonna let that go, are they?"

"Kristopher!", Olaf yelled and charged at the blond.

"Hey there little man.", Kristoff scoped him up and put him over his muscular shoulder. "Came to see me win?"

"You bet!", The boy grinned widely. "Marshall take a picture."

"Alright. Selfie time.", Marshall said as she took out her phone and we all got together. "Or should I say Usie?"

"Nice work out there Kris.", Steve congratulated his best friend, once the group picture was taken.

"Thanks man.", Kristoff smiled. "Glad to see you didn't lose your nerd glasses this time around."

Steve laughed. "I took extra precautions this time."

"It shows.", Kristoff said smiling and then turned to me. "So how what did you think of your first game here, Anna?"

"It was really great and loud and awesome.", I said to him. "Good thing you won too because Alice now owes me twenty."

"You two had a bet?", Steve said in amusement.

"Yeah.", I said as I nervously scratched the back of my head. "It was a last minute sort of thing."

"I'm glad you had faith in us winning too.", Kristoff said and it immediately eased my nervousness.

"Yo Kris!", A teammate came and slapped Kristoff on the shoulders. "You coming to the victory party or what?"

"Not tonight Jason.", He declined.

"You're always bailing on us man, we need the whole team there!", The guy, Jason complained.

"I'm just tired. Sue me.", Kristoff shrugged. "Next time for sure."

"You better, or we're gonna kidnap you and force you to have a good time with us.", He said with serious eyes and turned to us. "If you guys are interested, you're welcome to come.", With that, he ran off to join the others.

Kristoff then turned to us. "I really am tired guys. If you want to go, I won't stop you."

"I want to go except I kind of have to go home.", Marshall's gray eyes gestured to her brother who was currently running toward a football. "You know...", Marshall started while looking at me up and down. "I just realized that we haven't partied with Anna."

"Wait what?", I asked confused.

"You're right.", Steve commented lost in thought. "How about we all go together sometime?"

"Love it.", Marshall smiled.. "You in Anna?"

"Um yeah okay.", I agreed. "Sounds fun."

"Great.", Marshall said. "We'll go to the next one."

I was about to speak when I felt my phone vibrate. It was a call from my mom. "Guys I gotta take this.", They all nodded in and I hurried to around to find a quiet spot. The closest one was the behind the restrooms. The irony.

"Hello?", I said once I had answered.

"Hey Anna.", My mother's voice said. "How's the game?"

"Oh, it was great.", I said smiling. "Our school won!"

"That's wonderful.", She said. "So um, are you coming home soon?"

I expected that. "Yeah, we're just wrapping everything up. I should be home soon."

"Okay.", I knew she was smiling on the other end. "Have a safe drive, okay."

"I will. Love you.", I said.

"Love you too hon, bye.", When she said that, I hung up. I turned around to head back when I saw someone I thought I wouldn't be seeing anymore. I think my heart might have skipped a beat or two.

She was standing right in front of me and I didn't know how to feel about this. Her right hand was covered in a neon green cast. However, this was nothing compared to the sight that was her face. Her nose was covered in some sort of wrapping. Good thing it covered her broken nose because the skin around it was a deep dark purple. I didn't even know that that shade excited on skin. Her left cheek also seemed a bit swollen and her eye was a bit dark as well. Her whole face looked super painful and uncomfortable as hell. Elsa really did a number on her. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

"I come in peace.", Abby said quickly and held up her arms in surrender. She winced when her right hand went up, but that didn't stop her.

I wanted to just walk away right now, but I knew that I couldn't just do that. I crossed my arms over my chest and tried my best to not glare at her too much. "What do you want?", I said with a hard voice.

"It's about Elsa.", She said in a defeated tone.

This caught me off guard for two reasons. The first was that she wanted to talk about Elsa and not beat my ass and the second was that she was calling her by her name as opposed to 'Ice Queen'. "What about her?"

"Stay away from her.", She said in a fearful voice.

"Why?", I asked curiously. This honestly made no sense to me.

"There's something not right with that girl.", She said honestly.

"What do you mean by 'not right'?", I asked for clarification.

"I don't know what it is. Just that _something_ is not right. She's dangerous Anna.", She looked almost pleadingly. "She's a monster and you need to stay away."

"You're just saying that because she easily took you down.", I scoffed. "And why the hell do you care anyway?"

"There's some truth to that.", Abby admitted. "And I care because I owe you for stopping her from finishing me."

"Finishing you?", I remembered back to when Elsa had taken her glove off and was about to touch Abby with her bare hand. I chuckled at Abby's ridiculousness. "You think that she was gonna kill you with the touch of her hand?", I scoffed angrily. "Get real."

"I don't think, I _know_ so.", She said angrily. "That girl is a fucking sociopath! I'm still fucking shaking from those eyes of hers."

"A sociopath? That's ironic, coming from you.", It was really hard for me to stay level headed now. "And you think she was gonna kill you with her hand? Maybe you hit your head a little too hard.", I said angrily. "And why should I mean believe a word from your stupid mouth?"

"Because I'm trying to help you, you fucking idiot.", She nearly growled. "I wouldn't come near you if I wasn't so fucking sure of it."

"The hell you are. If there's anyone I need to stay away from, it's _you_.", I pointed to her chest. "So far, you've been the only danger around here and you brought a fucking knife!", I expected her to get physical or something, but she didn't. This might be crazy, but I think she looked a little regretful, but then it was gone.

"You know what? Fuck you.", She glared at me and started walking away, but not before saying something more. "By the way, I'm sorry and don't say I didn't warn you."

I stood there frozen in place as I watched her get out of my life for good this time. _Did she just apologized? Holy shit!_ Who is she and what has she done with real Abby? This was too strange for my brain to process. She's been wanting to hurt me all week, and now she's sorry? And she wants me to stay away from Elsa because she's dangerous? She wasn't dangerous. Okay, maybe she was a little. I've seen it with my own eyes, but she was prompted to do it.

Abby had really lost it if she thought Elsa would kill her. I honestly didn't see the blonde about to do that. But it did raised the question of what Elsa was going to do to Abby with her bare hand. I hadn't really thought about it. I just shrugged it off. Elsa was a weird person who did weird things. One of which included letting Abby make her life difficult. So far the only other question I had was where did Elsa learn to fight like that? The way she quickly moved, even the way she held Abby's blade, seemed perfect and flawless. Like she's had years of practice.

I sighed. Elsa, that strange girl. I think I wanted to talk to her, but I wasn't sure about it. I knew it was impossible for several reasons. The main one being that Elsa was a tightly closed book with maximum security. And getting past that was as easy as moving a mountain. But if Abby was right, then maybe I should stay away. But I was just too curious about the blonde now, so that probably wouldn't happen. My phone vibrated and I looked down to see Marshall's text.

_Meet us where we parked_

I walked to the parking lot, and as I did, I looked up at the night sky. There were many clouds, but the stars were still shining like there was no tomorrow. Today was an interesting day. Elsa had saved me from Abby and Abby had come to warn me about Elsa. Elsa had actually said a couple words, and Abby apologized to me. They were both very out of character. As I continued walking to the gray van and everything seemed to light up. Like a new light source was taking over. I looked up in time to see the clouds parting and letting the moon take the stage. It was a full moon. Maybe that explains it.

* * *

**A/N: I've had this chapter ready for a couple days now. But I had an awful day that turned into an awful week, so I was unable to update. Gotta be in the right mind, you know. And I hope you enjoyed this one.**


	9. Chapter 9

"_Said I'll always be your friend,_

_Took an oath that I'm a stick it out til the end."_

_Umbrella -Rihanna_

* * *

_Alright Anna, you got this. Just ignore them_. I mentally prepared myself as I stepped out of my car. However as I walked to the building, I began to regret coming here at all. School hadn't even started, yet I was already getting weird looks from everyone that I passed. _Fucking assholes_. They could at least pretend they weren't talking about me, but they were making it fucking obvious. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to suffer through this today. Not too bad, just gotta make it til 3 pm and I'm golden.

"It's okay Anna.", Alice said cheerfully next to me. "Just pretend you're famous!", She said in her blue blouse while holding her coffee in her right hand.

I rolled my eyes as we passed a group of girls that were staring at me. I shot them a sharp look and they looked away. "That's right.", I mumbled as we entered the hallway. It was almost empty save for a few people just hanging out and waiting for class to begin.

"Stop being such a loser already.", She bumped me on the shoulder with her hand. "And it's not like anyone directly talking to you."

"Yeah, I guess it could be worse.", I said really thinking about it now. It could be worse. At least no one was taking my picture like when Abby was out to get me. Alice opened her mouth to say something when someone poked my shoulder from behind. I turned around to see that annoying kid from Chemistry. The short loud one.

Already knowing where this was going, I sighed and put on my fake smile. "Yes?"

"Is it true that Elsa brought a gun to school and threaten you with it?", Duke asked excitedly as he leaned in a little too close to my face.

"Um no.", I cleared my throat. I wondered who ran the rumor mill, so I could have a nice little 'chat' with them. "That's not what happened at all."

"Oh.", He seemed disappointed that my life wasn't in danger to that degree. "Well then is it true that you-"

"Don't you have somewhere to be?", An irritated voice said behind me and I smiled.

"Fucking bitch.", Duke murmured under his breath as he walked away with with slumped shoulders.

"What did you say?!", Marshall challenged and Duke flipped her off without turning around. Marshall was dressed in a long sleeve red and black plaid shirt and jeans that were folded at the bottom for being too long. Her black hair was pulled up in a side pony tail.

"Thanks Marshall.", I said gratefully.

"No problem. That stupid Duke is annoying as fuck.", She said as she leaned against the locker and glared at Duke as he went to bug some other girl.

"I'm gonna go now, so see you later.", Alice excused herself and began to distanced herself.

"Yeah, I'll see you later.", I said to her and then turned back to Marshall and looked at her curiously. "I couldn't help but noticed that Duke isn't particularly fond of you."

"You caught that huh?", She asked with amusement and I nodded. "He's just sour because I turned him down last year for Homecoming. Bastard was a total jerk about it."

"Wait that was last year?", I asked and she nodded. "And he's still not over-", I yelped loudly when I strong hands around my waist pull me into the air. I was about ready to smack my attacker, but stopped when I saw his blond hair. He laughed as he gently set me down.

"Calm down Anna, it's just me.", He said as he wiped a tear from his eye. "But man, dude, your face was priceless!"

"It's not funny.", I half-hearty glared at him. The big guy was wearing neon orange T-shirt and light blue jeans that were ripped at the knees.

"You're right, it's hilarious.", He grinned and I playfully punched him on the arm. "Ow, have mercy Anna!"

"Alright. You may live.", I said and smiled at him.

"Sweet!", He chuckled. "So what are you guys talking about?"

"Just about how Duke hates Marshall for turning him down.", I informed him.

"Oh, yeah. I remember that.", Kristoff's chocolate brown eyes looked a little dazed as he went down memory lane. "That was harsh Marshall."

"What did she do exactly.", I asked him, much to Marshall's dismay.

"We don't need to know the details, you know.", Her gray eyes averted me and glared at Kristoff. "It's embarrassing enough already."

"Oh, you left the little details out huh?", He playfully nudged Marshal who slapped his arm away. "Well Anna, let Master Kristopher enlighten you."

Marshall groaned. "First Olaf, now you.", She wrinkled her nose at Kristoff. "Why don't we call Steve and tell him to join us?"

"Hey guys!", We all turned to Steve's loud voice as he came around the corner. The tall boy had a black T-shirt with the Superman logo in red and jean shorts. His hipster looking glasses shining against the light they reflected, with his brown hair as shaggy as ever, curling at its ends.

"Well speak of the devil.", Marshall mumbled in an annoyed tone.

"Hey, Captain Rogers!", Kristoff slapped him on his back when he was next to him.

"Hey Kristopher, Marshall, and Anna.", He greeted each of us with a smile. "So what's up?"

"Remember that one time last year when Marshall rejected the Duke?", Kristoff asked him.

"How can I forget.", Steve chuckled. "The little jerk wouldn't shut up about it."

Marshall chuckled. "Tell me about it."

"So what happened?", I asked. This was becoming increasingly interesting the more they talked about it.

"I'll tell it. So last year-", Steve was cut short when Kristoff pinned him against the locker and held his big hand over his mouth.

"Sorry Captain, but I'm telling it.", The football player said. Steve rolled his eyes behind his glasses, but nodded and Kristoff let him go. "So last year, we were all stupid juniors scrambling around to find dates to Homecoming and whatnot and Duke, he's had the biggest crush on our lady friend here since elementary-"

"He did not.", Marshall corrected him with a red face.

"Did too.", The blond interjected with a smug face. He gave Steve a knowing smirk and the other boy nodded.

"Marshall and Duke sitting in a tree.", They sang together. "K. I. S.-"

"Shut the fuck up with that damn song already.", Marshall said angrily and I laughed. From what I was gathering, this wasn't the first time they've teased her about it. "We're not in second grade anymore. We're freaking Seniors about to graduate next semester!"

"Jeez Marshall, don't remind us.", Steve said in mock hurt. "But alright, we'll save it for another day."

"As I was saying, Duke's been crushing on Marshall since forever, so last year, he kept asking her out on a romantic dates, and she rejected him always.", Kristoff while smirking at Marshall who made a puking face. "So then the little jerk thought that she might fall victim to peer pressure and say yes to him."

"Boy did that fail.", Steve chuckled. "It was an epic fail."

"I know.", Kristoff agreed and turned to me. "So during lunch, he got on the stage that's there, had a cheesy romantic music going on, and a bunch of losers bring flowers to her. Anyway, so she pretty much had to go on stage with him, and he's all like saying these trouble pick up lines-"

"Man that was terrible. I nearly wet my pants in laughter.", Steve chuckled at Marshall's face. Her red face matched her plaid shirt.

"Shut up.", She murmured to him.

"Oh and the best part was the fact that he was all dressed up in a fancy suit and everything.", Kristoff chuckled. "So she's right there on stage, trying hard not to vomit, and he's on his knees, holding her hand like in a marriage proposal sort of way. He then got a microphone, so that everyone could hear, and then he asks her if she'll go to Homecoming with him."

He paused and smirked at Marshall who sending him death glares. "So she said and I quote 'Duke Weaseltown, I will never ever go out with you. Not even if you were the last guy on the face of the Earth. I would rather live as a hermit than to be in the same room with you!'", He mimicked her voice and she punched him hard on the arm.

"Easy!", Kristoff rubbed the part of his arm that was now bight red.

"Ouch.", I chuckled at the statement that Marshall had made a year before. The funny thing was that I could very much imagine Marshall saying those things. "How he take it?"

"Well everyone thought that Marshall was a stuck up bitch until Duke snapped.", Steve snapped his fingers in front of my face. "He told her she's a total bitch and that he never liked her anyway. And many other rude, awful, and hurtful things.", Steve said. "Typical coward."

"And so I had a little 'chat' with him after school that same day.", Kristoff said happily. "And he apologized to Marshall to the next day 'cause nobody does that to our lady friend.", He smiled and put her neck. Marshall smiled half-hearty struggled out of his whole.

"A chat that resulted with him having a black eye.", Marshall smiled at the football player.

"So that's the end of it.", Steve said.

"Sounds like a lot drama.", I commented.

"You don't know the half of it.", Marshall said and pulled out of Kristoff's muscular arm. Her gray eyes looked up when the bell rang. "I'll see you guys later then.", She started walking away fast.

"Hey wait for me.", Steve quickly jogged to catch up to her.

When they went around the corner, Kristoff and I started walking toward the stair so we could get to our AP Lit. class. "Hey Anna?", He asked suddenly.

"Yeah?", I answered him as we turned the corner.

"Did you uh, by any chance, do your government homework?", He asked shyly as he twiddled his thumbs.

"What?", I said in mock surprise. "Kristopher didn't do his homework? Totally did not see that coming."

"I did most of it.", He pouted a bit as we went up the stairs. "I just skipped like three of them because I got stuck on them."

"I'll give it to you at the beginning of Gold's class, alright?", I told him and he smiled.

"Thank you so much Anna!", His voice was filled with gratefulness. "I owe you big time."

"Yeah, you're forever in my debt now.", I said as we entered the class.

Mr. Gold started class as soon as possible so I was able to avoid questions from the other students who were staring at me. I was grateful that they held their tongues.

"Alright class.", Mr. Gold said as we walked across the room from his desk to the whiteboard. "Today, is just a lecture and you are all to take notes."

With that, he started up a powerpoint and we had to take notes. It was on a discussion we were going to have later on The Scarlet Letter. Yay. I just loved discussions, not. I didn't have a problem with talking in front of others too much. I just had a problem with what to say exactly. I always managed to make a fool of myself. Especially since there's always that smartass who questions you or demands clarification, knowing full well you don't have it.

I checked the time on the clock that was in front of and classroom and sighed annoyance. We still had about forty minute left in here. Maybe it was just me, but time seemed to be slower than usual today. Maybe it was because of the fact that I didn't want to be here, but that was everyday, so it didn't count.

I glanced over to the seat next to me out of habit and I immediately knew why class was slow. _Oh, that's why_. The desk right next to me was vacant. She wasn't here and she wouldn't be here for a couple days. She probably wouldn't be here til next week, I didn't really know how the disciplinary system worked at this school. I felt guilty that she was suspended because it was my fault she had to fight Abby.

I wanted her to be here, that was one thing I knew for sure. I didn't know why I missed her. We never talked. I did try to talk her every now and then, but she never replied. She just pretends I'm not there, doesn't even so much as glance my way.

But despite all of that, I guess I just missed her presence because I had grown accustom to it. If she were here right now, she would be writing everything with that blue pen of hers in neat handwriting. And I would probably make a comment about how boring this was and she would say nothing.

And then we can't forget that number of hers. That 19 that she wears on all her clothes. The others were right when they said that she never failed to wear it. I wondered if it was on her pajamas as well. If it was that important to her, then she should might as well just tattoo it onto her skin. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if it was. I sometimes wondered why she wore it, but I didn't pander on it too much. It was none of my business, but it still had me wondering sometimes. I would ask her, but asking was a lost cause.

I rested my head my desk since it was hard to keep awake now. I seriously hoped that time went by faster in here because it was so boring. Maybe if I closed my eyes...

"Bang!"

I jumped up with a start in my seat. _Why am I sitting?_ I looked around to see that I was still in the classroom. _Damn_, I looked up to see Mr. Gold's irritated face and the textbook he just slammed on the desk right next to me.

"Miss Anderson?", His voice was angry, I could tell.

"Yeah?", I asked despite myself.

"I would appreciate it greatly if you do so kindly as to not sleep in my class.", He scolded with his hands behind his back.

"Sorry sir.", I said quietly.

"I understand that my lectures, nor the education you are receiving in this country for free don't interest you, judging by the way you're dozing off.", His dark eyes moved to another kid who was also on the verge of sleeping. "But just because Miss Macbeth isn't here for you to bother, it doesn't excuse this kind of behavior."

"Wait what?", I asked confused.

"Don't think I don't see the way you always bother her dearie.", He stated. My face grew hot at his comment and the fact that everyone was staring at me didn't help. I saw Kristoff trying his best not to laugh at me. _Jerk_.

"Sorry.", I wanted to argue, but I wasn't in the mood for more attention. I wasn't _that_ student.

He turned around to the others. "I do not tolerate sleepers.", He said sharply and loudly for everyone to hear. That one student that was about to doze off snapped right up. He then turned to me. "Seeing how this is your first offense to both me and this classroom, I'll let it pass. However, this will count as your first and final warning. Are we clear?"

"Crystal.", He was making me angry by making a big deal out of this. Anger might have been evident in my tone, but I wasn't sure. If it was, then he chose to ignore it.

He nodded and headed to the front of the classroom on his limp leg. "Anyone caught sleeping will suffer the consequences.", I mentally sighed. I wish he would let it go already. I fell asleep in class, it happens, I didn't see what the big deal was.

He started the boring lecture again. On the bright note, I managed to not doze off. The key was to not lay your head down. My head was filled with what he had said. It was his comment about me bothering Elsa. I don't bother her that much. Or did I? Now that I thought about it, maybe I did. But it wasn't my fault that his class was too boring. This was one of those classes where you need someone to talk too, or you'll go stir crazy. Besides Elsa, the only other person within range of where I sat was this guy, but he was always too busy on his phone.

I looked over at the clock and I still had like thirty minutes to go in here. I groaned. This is going to be a very long day.

* * *

Walking to Calculus was the worst. It was worst than break actually. I got stopped by like three people, all rudely throwing rumors at me. They're so god damn annoying. I had thought that all the hype would have died by forth period, but I was fucking wrong. I could already imagine them later at lunch in the cafeteria. I sighed. _Just my luck_.

I walked into my math class and groaned. Normally I would sit in the desk that was by the corner, but since all the other students kept stopping me in the hallways, I came in late and someone had already taken it. The only other seat available was the one in front of Jack. _Great, just great_.

"Hi Anna.", Jack greeted me as I took my seat in front of him. Since the desks were facing each other, I had no excuse to not look up at him. I hadn't talked to him since he returned my notebook a million years ago.

"Jack.", I greeted him as I copied down the problems that Mrs. Pierce was writing down.

"Alright everyone", Everyone stopped talking when she spoke. "Today is an easy day. Just do this problems with your partner and that's it.", She paused for a moment. "If both you and your partner need help, ask you neighbors, or ask me."

The class got loud with everyone talking about topics that weren't Calculus related. I decided it was best to start working on my problems. The sooner I finish, the better.

"I heard about what happened last Friday.", His deep soft voice said. This brought my attention back to him.

"Which story did you hear?", I asked and looked up at him. "Did you hear the one where Elsa brought a gun to school, or the one where she beat Abby with a bat?"

"I heard the true-", He started, but I cut him short.

"Wait wait. Here's my favorite.", I said interrupted quickly. "How about the one where Elsa brought her own gang of thugs and released them to Abby and I?"

"Your stories are not appreciated.", He said with a hint of annoyance as he worked on his problem.

"Sorry. That was really bitchy of me.", I mumbled. "I'm just upset at all the shit people keep throwing at me."

"I understand.", Jack gave me a genuine smile. "Anyway, can you give me the real story then?"

"I thought you already heard the real story.", I pointed out.

"I did.", He agreed. "But I would like to hear it from someone who was actually there."

"Why don't you ask your sister Elsa then?", I sarcastically suggested.

"How do you know she's my sister?", He asked with his eyebrow raised. "I don't remember telling you that."

I shrugged. "People talk and it's kind of common knowledge."

"What did they tell you exactly?", Jack narrowed his beautiful eyes at me.

"Enough.", I said crossing my arms.

"Like...", He coaxed, while waving his hands at me.

"Oh nothing important.", I said as I looked back to the board. "Just a little something about how you hate her.", It took a lot to not glare at him. "Again, nothing important."

He huffed in annoyance. "And you believe them?", His tone was accusing.

"I don't know.", I said quietly. "But the way you stood up for her sure told me a lot about you."

His eyes got a little dark and the air around us seemed to tense. "I don't hate my sister, if that's what you're getting at."

I chuckled a little. "Why do I find that a little hard to believe?"

"Anna, just watching what Abby did to her made my blood boil.", Jack seemed to be telling the truth, but I didn't know what to believe from him. "But I couldn't do anything."

"Really?", I said a little more angry than intended. "What strong magical force was stopping you?"

"Elsa.", Jack said, his voice tired.

This confused me. "What do you mean?", I asked with all my anger forgotten, replaced with confusion.

"Elsa made me promise I wouldn't interfere should anything happens to her.", He informed.

"Wait, so you're telling me that she didn't want your help and you agreed to it?", I asked for clarification. _Why did this sound familiar?_

"In retrospect, I shouldn't have agreed to it.", He while looking at the board and quickly writing down the math problems. "But I didn't want to make her even more unhappy by interfering."

"Elsa would have been unhappy if you had helped her?", I couldn't believe what I was saying. But at the same time, I kind of did. A week ago, I made Alice do the same thing for me. But my reason behind it was that I didn't want my mom to worry about me, she had enough to worry about as it was. I wondered what was Elsa's reason.

"You can say that.", He shrugged.

"Why?", I asked him. Being her brother, he probably knew.

"I honestly don't know.", He sighed. "I know about as much as everyone else at this school. She doesn't talk much at home either. Kind of awkward sometimes."

"Oh.", I had forgotten to take in consideration how Elsa behaved at home. I can barely make it sitting next to her in class for almost an hour, but having to live with her? That's a new level of awkwardness right there.

"Can I ask you something?", Jack asked and I nodded. "Is that why you've been mad at me? Because you thought I was a shitty brother?"

I blushed at his truthful words. "Yeah, um sorry about that.", Denying it would have been even more embarrassing.

"Don't be. I've gotten that a couple times.", He flashed me a smile with his white teeth before his face turned serious again. "But seriously Anna, if you're ever mad at me, just keep it real and tell me what's up. Miscommunication is the surprisingly the source of many broken friendships."

I think I would have felt better if he had gotten mad at me. But instead he was being understanding and nice about it. It made me feel guilty and terrible inside. "I will."

"Good.", Jack said confidently. "We're friends then, right?"

"Yeah, we're friends.", I smiled at him. Again I felt terrible. I am such a bad judge of character.

"Anna, one more question.", He said uncertainly and I nodded. "It's about what happened last Friday."

"What is it?", I said while looking into his rich blue eyes that were identical to Elsa's. Too bad they were on him and not on the platinum blonde herself.

"Is it really true that she broke Abby's wrist with her hand?", He asked. "I'm just finding that a little hard to believe."

"It is actually.", I informed him. "She went all battle mode on her.", I cringed a little at that memory. "I don't suppose you know where she learned to fight like that?"

"Not really.", He shrugged. "Actually, never mind, I do. I remember Mom saying something about our biological father sending her to boot camp. So that's probably it."

"Why would he do that?", I asked. "Don't parents only sent their kids there if they're brats or something?"

"Yeah, but that's not it.", Jack said as he looked down at his paper. "He was in the military, so he signed her up as well."

"I guess that makes sense.", I said as I imagined Elsa in camouflage while in trench warfare. "I never took Elsa to be an army chick.", Maybe that explained why she was very physically fit.

"I know. It makes me feel guilty that mom kept me and not her.", Jacks said as he looked down. I felt bad for him. "And then there's the fact that I didn't even know about her."

"Wait, you didn't know about her?", I asked surprised.

"Yeah, I didn't know I had a sibling my whole life.", He admitted. "My mom just got a call from Child Services asking meet up with her. She was freaking out because she thought they were gonna take me away or something.", He paused as he thought about that memory. "But the meeting was about if she wanted to take in my twin since her name was on the papers and Elsa was still a minor."

"That must have taken a lot of explaining to do.", I can imagine Jack's face with surprise.

"Yeah she came home and asked Dad and I what we thought about having a new girl in the house.", His face then turned serious. "So for a second there I thought she was pregnant, though it's kind of impossible since she bare children anymore. But then she explained the whole I have a long lost twin I never knew about thing. Seemed like something out of a movie."

"That must have been a lot to take in.", I commented.

"It was, but we were really happy to have our family growing and I've always wanted a sister, so you can imagine my excitement.", Jack smiled. "But when she came, she wanted nothing to do with us, but then we caught on that that's just how she is.", Jack shrugged.

"I've noticed.", I agreed. "I have her for three classes and she's the same in all of them. I wonder why she's that way though."

"I've wondered the same thing.", He said with a serious face. "I've asked her, but she never talks. Her-", He stopped suddenly and cleared his throat. "Um _our_ biological dad probably knows since he pretty much raised her, but he's long gone now."

"She'll probably open up someday.", I gave him a warm smile and then I thought of something. "If not, then just use your twin telepathy."

"Twin telepathy.", He repeated with amusement. "Why didn't I think of that.?"

The bell then rang and I looked up in surprise. "Class went by faster than I expected."

"That's what happens went you actually enjoy it.", Jack smiled happily and then looked at me. "I also enjoyed it."

"Glad you enjoyed it.", I said as we left the math math class and headed to the cafeteria. Everyone that we passed me stared, but didn't say anything. Thank goodness. This was progress right here. Although it was chaotic in the hallways, we managed stay together and not get separated.

"Thank you.", He blurted out, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen over us.

"For what?", I asked.

"For helping Elsa out.", He put his hand on my shoulder. "I really appreciate it."

"I got her suspended.", I reminded him. "That's hardly anything to be thanking me about."

"Elsa's not suspended.", Jack informed me.

"Wait what?", I said surprised. "But I thought...", I trailed off as I recalled my conservation with the principle.

Jack chuckled at my confusion. "She was, but Dad managed to get it revolted."

"Ah okay I see how it is.", I said playfully. "Elsa is above the law now."

"She is not.", He chuckled. "I mean it was self defense after all and Abby did bring a weapon."

"I guess you're right.", I said. "But if that's true, then why isn't she here today?"

"Doctor's appointment. She'll be back tomorrow.", Jack said casually.

That's something I didn't see be coming because Elsa looked fine last Friday. I wanted to ask why she was at the doctors, but it was none of my business and it wasn't exactly his information to share anyway. "Good to hear she'll be back tomorrow."

"I know.", He agreed. "Anyway, I need to head up to the library and get some things done. So I'll see you tomorrow.", He said and we parted ways. I smiled as I watched him leave.

I really did regret thinking he was a total asshole. From now on, I'll pass judgment myself and not let others influence me. They were wrong about Jack, so that meant they could also be wrong about others.

I thought that the same went for Elsa. Nobody knew her, not even her own brother and family. And because of that, everyone thinks of her to be a stuck up bitch. Even I thought that. Everyone would probably see her in a different light if they actually knew her for sure. She did save me from Abby, and that's something a stuck up bitch would never do. Elsa would be back tomorrow, so I'll try to get her to talk to me then. But it will be hard considering she wants nothing to do with me or anybody for that matter. But then again, she did talk quite a lot last Friday and she did come to me that same day after school before I left. Maybe there's hope.

* * *

**A/N: I think I should have mentioned this before, but Alice is an OC that I made up and is in no way related to Alice in Wonderland. So far there are only two characters here that are from other places. Try naming them, I dare you ;)**

**In other news *cough "Frozen Fever" *cough.**


	10. Chapter 10

"_Taken far from my safety, the picture is there._

_The memory won't escape me, but why should I care?"_

_Forgotten -Linkin Park_

* * *

I was running up the stairs to to my first period the next day and I was like ten minutes late. Which, by the way, was not my fault. Stupid Alice wanted to go to fucking Starbucks. And because I'm a total idiot sometimes, I fucking agreed to it. Okay so maybe it was my fault for agreeing. I'll just embarrass my sister in front of her friends later. That will teach her a thing or two about controlling her coffee addiction.

When I finally made it to the third floor, I stopped before opening the door. I fixed my hair that was a little windblown. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

As expected, everyone turned to the door to face me. Kristoff had a smirk on his face, a few shook their heads in disappointment, and but most just looked at me with curious eyes. And then I looked over to Mr. Gold's direction. _I'm so screwed_.

"Miss Anderson, so nice of you to join us.", He started to slowly clap with his hands. This made my face go hot.

"Sorry.", I said and started heading to my seat when he stopped me.

"Wait dearie.", He said with dark eyes. "I want you to stand in front of the class now."

I fought the urge to glare and did as he instructed. I went to the front of the class and tried my best to not make eye contract with anyone.

"Behold students, the latecomer!", Mr. Gold announced to everyone while dramatically gesturing at me. "They are a rare species in the AP program, but are very common in the regular classes. They are known for their inability to show up on time."

"Mr. Gold I-", I started, but stopped when he raise his hand.

"Now Miss Anderson, care to tell everyone your brilliant excuse for not showing up on time?", He said sarcastically. I clenched my jaw and shook my head in humiliation. "Well why not?"

"Don't have one.", I said to him while looking down on the floor beneath me. Maybe if I concentrate enough, I'll be able to disappear.

"What?!", He said in mock surprise._ Fucking asshole._ He was now really getting under my skin.

He shook his head. "You know what kind of students I hate in class Miss Anderson?" _Oh, he's really asking for it, isn't he?_

"Is it sleepers?", I said before I could stop my stupid mouth.

His eyes darkened. _Shit!_ "Ah, I see that you don't suffer memory lost. For that rules out the 'I forgot what time school starts' excuse now don't it?"

I bit my tongue to prevent talking back. Under normal circumstance, it would caused me great pain, but my anger was numbing it greatly. I was sure I could bite my tongue off right now, and it wouldn't hurt a bit.

"Let me answer the question then.", He said as he walked around the classroom. "I just hate students who don't take class seriously. The ones that think it's all just a big game. Seeing as to how you can't even bother to show up on time, I take it you just don't care."

"But I do care!", I blurted out without thinking.

He smiled in amusement. "As the old saying goes, 'Actions speak louder than words', and right now dearie, your actions are telling me a million things about yourself."

I didn't say anything. Part of me was mad, but the other side, the more logical one, was pointing out how there was some truth to his words.

"But it sure makes me wonder as to why you come to school at all if you don't care.", He was in the back of the classroom in front of me. "It's a shame that I can't just kick you out of my class for today. School policy won't allow me unless I have a valid reason and being 12 minutes tardy, unfortunately, does not count."

I was really starting to hate this jerk. _Don't say anything Anna_.

"You know, I wonder why you decided to take my AP Literature class if you don't care. Tell me, do you know what AP stands for and what the purpose of it is? I didn't quite go over it because I assumed that you knew. Tell me now, what is it? Hum?"

I took a deep breath to calmed myself. My eyes hurted. I cried whenever I got extremely emotional, whether it be anger or happiness. And right now, I was really angry. "It stands for Advance Placement and it's meant to prepare us for the AP exam in May in hopes of scoring at least a 3 out of 5 to earn some college credit."

"Precisely.", He agreed. "And it is my job to educate you as much as I can in this limited time, however, I can't do that if I have to waste precious class time lecturing you on behavior. I'm beginning to wonder why you're still here."

For some reason, that last part made me see a little red. I felt like that was a low blow right there because personal and un-fucking-called for. The lump in my throat was growing and my eyes were threatening to explode, but I wouldn't allow this bastard get to me. "I'm here because I want to.", I said through gritted teeth. "Sir.", I added even I just lost all respect for this jerk and any hope of regaining it was now lost at the bottom of the ocean.

"If you really want to be here, then start acting it.", He said sternly. "Take a seat.", He commanded.

_Fuck you!_ I wanted to say, but instead I settled for this. "Yes sir."

"Alright class, take out paper and copy down only what I tell you." He ordered and everyone quickly did just that. The air tense and I wish I could stop it. However, that wouldn't happen today because he had just made an example out of me. I glanced in Kristoff's direction and he mouthed 'You alright?'

I nodded slowly and gave me a weak thumbs up. He nodded, but I could tell he still wasn't at ease. And I smiled at that. It was cute that Kristoff was worried about me, it made me all warm inside, but it wasn't enough to get me out of this dead feeling inside. Not caring if stupid Gold was watching or not, I laid my head on my desk. It was first period and it already wasn't my day. I looked up when I heard the door open and _she_ walked in.

The first thing I noticed about her was that she was dressed in all black. Her jeans, her long sleeve shirt, even the gloves she wears despite the hot weather. I sneaked a glance at her shoes and they were all black converse. I thought that the all black thing kind of matched with Elsa because she herself looked kind of terrible. She had dark circles under her tired blue eyes and she was pale. But not her radiant pale. It was more of a sickly pale, like when you're really sick and the black clothes wasn't helping with that. And her hair, despite being platinum blonde somehow managed to lose some of its color as well. Besides that, the only other color on her was her number that was in white.

"Miss Macbeth. You're late.", Mr Gold's stupid mouth said. And here's another episode of 'You're Late!', brought to you by The Dark One himself. I smiled a little at my inside joke. "You have an excuse, or did you decide to sleep in like another student in here?"

_Fuck you_, I thought to myself.

She took out a yellow note from her pocket and handed it to him.

He chuckled when he read whatever was in it and looked up at the blonde. "I can't believe that you went out of your way to make a fake note."

Elsa didn't say anything. Actually she didn't look like she was listening, or cared for that matter.

"Speak.", He instructed. I honestly couldn't come up with a reason for him to be such an asshole today. Maybe it's that time of the month for him.

"It's not fake.", She simply said quietly as she stared at the floor beneath her.

"I highly doubt that you got an excuse from the principle.", He said to her.

"But I did.", Elsa said and took a deep breath. Something seemed different about her, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe it was the way she was actually talking. Of maybe the fact that she sounded a little pissed off. This was new.

"Sure you did dearie.", He chuckled again. "Just what were you doing in there anyhow? What was so-"

"Why do you care?", Elsa suddenly snapped, not hiding her irritation. Her icy eyes looked up at him, his mouth was opened in surprise, as was everyone's else. "Whatever I do outside of this class is none of your business."

"Well I was just-", He started.

"I will kindly tell you not to pry on my personal life, sir.", She said sharply, her blue eyes cold.

"Alright.", He held his hands up in surrender. "Just take a seat." She glared at him before going to the back of the classroom to take her seat next to me.

It seemed to me that Elsa wasn't gonna be taking crap from anyone anymore. First she beats up Abby and now she's rude to the teacher. He deserved it though, but I still thought this was a new level for her. I glanced over at her and she glanced back as if daring me to stare at her. I blushed and looked away. _Oh yeah, something's definitely wrong here_.

I didn't say anything, but I might as well have. I had Elsa's full attention and it was very uncomfortable. She wasn't looking at me, but I felt like she was specifically watching my every move. From the way I was sitting on my chair, to the way my hand was writing the notes Mr. Gold had on the board.

It got to the point where I couldn't take the silence anymore. "Hi.", I finally decided to speak up.

"Hi.", I think my jaw dropped at the sound of her voice.

"Hi me?", I asked in disbelief. "You're socializing!", No way this was happening.

But one look at her frown, I knew I killed the moment with my stupidity. She looked away and stared off into the space in front of her with a frown still on her face.

I felt guilty. "Elsa, I-"

I stopped when she reached into the front right pocket of her jeans and took out her phone and earphones. I groaned in annoyance when she put them on and I began to hear a tune I couldn't make out coming from her ears. This scene, unfortunately, was very familiar. Elsa didn't want to listen to me.

I huffed and brought my attention back to the lecture that Mr. Gold was giving. _Whatever, it's not like I cared anyway_. The only good thing that came out of this was Mr. Gold giving nervous glances at Elsa. If I had to guess, he was trying to figure out how to tell her to take her earphones off. I felt like a winner when the spineless asshole didn't. A huge grin appeared on my face. Maybe it won't be such a shitty day after all.

* * *

"Again Anna, I'm so very sorry for what happened.", Mr. Oaken apologized for the tenth time already.

"It's fine.", I said, also for the tenth time. After all, it wasn't his fault that my tutor was a no show yesterday.

"I really had no idea they didn't show up.", He said with a serious. tone. "I've talked with them and I can promise you that they will be here today for sure.

"That's all I need.", I smiled at the big man. I had felt like such a loser yesterday waiting there all alone for someone that wouldn't show up.

"Alright.", He affirmed and then handed me a paper. "And here's your pass. If your teacher doesn't believe you, just tell them to give me a call and I'll straighten it out."

"Okay, thank you.", I said gratefully and then proceeded to leave the classroom. Mr. Oaken was a really sweet man and he was one of those teachers that actually cared. And for that, I couldn't be mad at him, even if I tried.

Now I just had to get through P.E. and I was done. Hopefully Mr. Smith was in a good mood today because he was one of those teachers that could give you hell and not get in trouble for it. That was the beauty of being a gym teacher. When I entered the deserted locker room, I opened my locker and quickly changed into my forest green T-shirt and black shorts.

When that was over with, I hurried over to the gym. Everyone was already lined up and Mr. Smith was yelling at them about the importance of fitness America.

"Anderson!", He said loudly when I got close. "You better have a note on you!"

"I do.", I said as I took it out and handed it to him.

He looked at it and then at me. "Alright then, go line up." I nodded and headed to the front of the line.

"Alright maggots! Listen up!", Mr. Smith's booming voice commanded and the chatter was beginning to build suddenly stopped. "All you non-dressers make me sick!", The angry teacher said in disappointment. "So guess what we're doing today?"

We all groaned at this. It was like a million degrees outside, not to mention the fact I hated running. When we all headed through the double doors to go outside into the bright sun, I nearly bumped into Elsa's back when she suddenly stopped in front of me.

She was covering her eyes with her right hand as her free hand searched for something in her pocket. Since I was in close proximity with her, I noticed that her white teeth were gritted against each other, suggesting pain. Her gloved hand came out of her pocket with her shades. Her blue eyes tightly shut as she slipped them on. When that was done, she continued to the track with the others.

I replayed the scene in my head, paying close attention to her shades. I thought she wore those to be cool and all, but now I was thinking that she had some sort of eye problem. Maybe it had something to do with the sun. She didn't wear them as much inside anymore, and I had never seen her outside without them except for last Friday after school, but if I remembered correctly, we were in the shade and it had gotten cloudy that afternoon.

Sensing my eyes on her, she suddenly turned my way and frowned at me staring. I blushed and turned away. I found myself face to face with Steve.

"Hey Steven.", I said to him as I glared at the hot air that dared to touch my already hot skin. I could honestly say that I could see the heat.

"So we're on full name bases now huh?", He said as he playfully nudged my arm. "If that's the case, then I need to learn what 'Anna' is short for."

"No, we're not that.", I said. "It's just that today doesn't seem like a good running day. You know?"

"I know what you mean.", He agreed as he smiled at me. "I'm actually a little worried that I might throw up my perfect sandwich."

"It's been digesting for the past hour or so, so I highly though it.", I said. During lunch, my friends and I went out to eat in Kristoff's car. We bickered around town for a place to eat for ten minutes because everyone was in the mood for something different. But in the end, Kristoff let me decide where to go. I had a feeling that he did that because of what happened during first period, but I pushed those thoughts away.

"I guess, but it still won't be pretty.", He shrugged. "At least it's only four laps around."

"That's true, if he adds more, I'm going to die.", I said as I looked at the huge running circle.

"True that.", Steve said as he looked over the track as well.

"Two extra laps for the whole class!", He teacher yelled to the class as he scribbled something down on his clip board.

"What the hell!", A girl with short black hair exclaimed. "Why?!"

"Because of the of the two maggots playing with the branch!", He gestured to the two boys who were goofing around with with a fallen branch by a small tree that looked as though it was barely planted over the summer.

The whole class sent glares to the two assholes who were smirking as they made their over to the rest of the class. A couple students shoved them a little, but they didn't seem to mind it at all. If anything, they seemed proud of themselves, just laughing it off. _Idiots_.

When the teacher blew his whistle, we took off. It wasn't too bad, but I still hated it. By my fifth lap, I was about ready to pass out. I didn't know which I hated more. The fact that my calves were on fire or me being covered nasty sticky sweat. Steve wasn't much better off. Sweat was dripping down his brown hair and he was red despite his tan. I bet that if I saw myself in the mirror, I would be even redder. _Perfect, just perfect._

"If anyone stops, more laps will be added!", Mr. Smith yelled when students began to slow down, though I think it was directed at me since he was looking in my direction when he said it.

"Almost there-", Steve managed to choke out despite his panting after forever. We just needed to finish the one we were on. We were almost there, I could see the finish line right ahead of us. But then my bad luck finally kicked in. I fell. And it was fucking painful!

"Anderson, you alright?", The teacher said as he made his way over to me. Steve helped me sit, and I winced when I moved my legs. I looked down at my knees to see the bloody mess. _Shit_. This was definitely going to scar. But I was already scarred there from my clumsy childhood, so it wouldn't matter.

"I'll live.", I mumbled as I tried to push myself up with my hands. I clenched my teeth when pain started burning there as well._ Fuck_. I looked at my hands to find that my palms were just barely better off than my knees. The skin there was ripped and gross looking.

"I'll help you.", Steve said as he grabbed one of my arms and the teacher grabbed the other and they pulled me to my feet with ease.

"Thanks.", I said as I wiped the sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand.

"I think a trip to the nurse is an order.", Mr. Smith murmured as he looked down at me. He turned to the group of students that were already finished. They were all sitting around on the grass under the shade of a big tree. "Macbeth, get over here now!"

I head shot up to the group of student, but the blonde wasn't with them. She was by herself under a separate tree. I saw her sigh as she slowly got up and made her way over to us. Her face not giving any hints as to what she was thinking. It would be logical to assume that it would be easier to read her if I could actually see her eyes behind those shades of hers, but Elsa was the exception to this and maybe other assumptions.

"You are to make sure Anderson here gets to the nurse's office safely and once there, wait with her. Understand?", He ordered and Elsa slowly nodded.

"What!", I said loudly. "Why can't Steve do it?", Mr. Smith gave me a questioning look and then my mind processed how that must have sounded to Elsa. I felt myself blushing a bit. "Not that I don't like Elsa, I'm sure she's a nice person, it's just that uh...why?

"Yeah, why not?", Steve asked as he cocked his head to the side.

"Macbeth was the first to finish as always.", He said as he gave her a nod of approval and then gave Steve and I a sharp look. We flinched a little. "And I don't trust students of the opposite gender to be alone together."

"Huh?", I asked despite myself. Steve's face managed to get even more red despite the heat. Then I caught onto the implication he was making and my face got hot. "Oh."

"'Oh' is just right.", The teacher smirked with a disgusted face. "Now get going."

"Okay.", I said and started walking toward the building with Elsa at my heels. The only good thing that came out of me falling was that I was back inside. The air was cool in there and I loved it. It's moments like these that make me love the winter over summer.

Elsa took off her shades once we were inside. It was hard to keep my eyes off of her for no reason, particularly her face. Her jaw was a bit clenched and her eyebrows were furrowed. I've seen that look on Alice and on myself a million times whenever we had to do unpleasant chores at home. It was the face of someone who had an unwanted task, but was determined to get it done.

"It wasn't like I wanted you to come you know.", I said aloud. She remained silent as always. "If I'm that much of a burden, you could just leave."

She bit her lower lip, but said nothing. I found that amusing. She looked as if she wanted to speak, but knew they shouldn't. The Ice Queen persona was thawing a bit. I was about to a make a smart reply on that, but then my eyes spotted the door to the restroom and I looked down at my raw hands.

"I need to wash my hands.", I told. I was fairly certain, that she probably wouldn't like that, but I started heading to the restroom without waiting for her answer. As she would reply anyway.

Once I was in, I immediately went to one of the sinks and turned it on. Without a second thought, I run my scraped hands through the cool water. I winced at the sudden sting, but then relaxed as the cold water cleaned my hand and numbed the throbbing pain. It felt good. Once they were cleaned of dirt and blood, I decided to splash my face as well. God, that felt good against my hot skin.

Then I heard someone clear their throat. I turned to Elsa, who was patiently waiting by the door.

"So...", I trailed off as I wiped the water from my face and headed over where the paper towels were. I awkwardly dried my face and hands. Then I grabbed another one and tried to clean my knees as Elsa continued to stare. Not wanting to look at her icy blue eyes, I looked down to her chest and thus the number. Now was a good a time as always to get her to talk. "So was 1 through 18 like already taken or something?"

As soon as those words escaped my mouth, I regretted it. Her whole posture changed. She quickly went from awkward and relaxed to tense and alarmed. Her shoulders pushed a little up and her gloved hands turned into fist. And her face was the worse part, it was filled with sorrow and her eyes reflected nothing but despair. _Was it something I said?_

"Elsa, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-", I quickly started to apologized, but stopped when her sad eyes met my green blue ones. My heart started pounding hard in my chest at the intensity of this.

"Yes.", That simple answer escaped her lips. Her voice sounded weak and helpless and honestly, it broke my heart a bit. We stayed there for a good minute before she finally broke the eye contact. I blinked and looked down at the task I was doing. I decided it would be best if Elsa and I just went on our way already. I threw the wet and bloody paper towels away and headed to the door.

For a second, I thought I saw a look of relief on the blonde, but it was gone. Replaced with a frown. Probably now mad at me for bringing up an unwanted memory with what I had said. It made me uneasy, but I ignored it and we continued on our way. After a few seconds, it got to a point where I couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm sorry about the whole number thing.", I suddenly blurted out.. "I didn't mean to make you upset. If I had known it would have, I-"

"You talk a lot.", She commented while looking ahead.

"Yeah, Alice used to tease me a lot about that when we were little.", I told her, getting a little side tracked. "She's my sister by the way, you've seen her before. And don't worry it's not contagious-"

"It's annoying.", Elsa stated with certain sharpness to her voice. I totally did not see that coming. If I did, I wouldn't have been too shock. Don't get me wrong, I knew it was true and all, but it's completely different when someone directly says that. And she said it so bluntly as well. I felt myself blushing as I looked ahead. We were almost to the office.

"I'm guessing you don't like me.", I said without thinking. I didn't mean for that to escape my mouth, but I didn't really regret it. It wouldn't hurt to know if she did or did not, assuming she answered.

She shrugged and me a quick glance. "What was your first clue?", She said coldly.

_Ouch_. Scratch that, it does hurt, but only a little. Okay maybe a lot. But who cared what she thought of me. Not me, that's who. She hated the world and I was no exception. That thought alone made me feel better. Before things could get even more weird, we got to the office and I was able to get distracted from the rude blonde.

We were at the door of the Nurse's Office sooner than I expected. I stared uncertainly at the door. I didn't know whether to knock or just walk in, but Elsa answered that question by just walking in like she owned the place.

Ms. Connors was sitting on her desk fanatically typing something into her laptop. She looked and smiled at Elsa, but her eyes widen a bit in surprise when she noticed me next to the blonde.

"Well hello ladies.", She said smiling. Ms. Connors stared at me with her eyes lost in though. Then she smiled and snapped her fingers in victory. "You're the girl who was here last Friday after school, correct?"

"That's me.", I confirmed as she closed her laptop. "I'm Anna Anderson."

"I thought you looked familiar.", She smiled. "Nice name by the way.", She complimented. "What can I do for you?", She asked as she got up and then noticed the blood that was sliding slowly down my leg. "Ouch. Did Coach Smith have you guys out on the track again?"

"He did.", I said as she led me to one of the beds. They were like the ones you see at the doctors.

"Yeah, he tends to do that. 90 percent of the students that come in are from his class.", She informed me as she went to the sink to wash her hands. "Yet, I over get any from the other P.E. teachers, strange ain't it?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"But at least you students are getting your workout.", She said cheerfully and turned to Elsa who had taken one of the seats in front of the desk. "Elsa can you do me a huge favor and get the alcohol wipes."

Elsa nodded and processed to do as the nurse told her. I watched her with curiosity as she searched through the cabinet. I found it interesting that Elsa knew where to look. When she found them, she found them on the counter next to the nurse.

Ms. Connors handed me a wet paper towel to finish cleaning my knees from the dirt and blood that was now drying up. I flinched a little as I did just that. She suddenly put something the side knee. I closed my eyes as I winced at the sting. The smell of the alcohol invading my nostrils.

"Sorry.", Ms. Connors apologized. "It hurts less when you don't see it coming."

"Yeah, I know.", I murmured under my breath. I wasn't new to this strategy since my mom used this on me all time when I was a child. And I always fell for it. "I really don't like those."

"I know.", The nurse said with a apologetic face as she handed me a new one. "Nobody likes what is good for them."

I sighed. "Let's get this over with.", Closing my eyes, I placed it on top of my left knee. I hissed at the sudden stinging. I hated falling. If gravity was in the form of a person, I would go egg their house.

"That's the spirit.", She said as she searched through one of the cabinets

"So tell me Anna, what are your plans for after school?", She asked as took out a large band-aid. Those heavy duty ones.

"Just tutoring.", I shrugged as I placed band-aid on my raw knee. "Chemistry doesn't agree with me."

"Chemistry huh?", She threw the wrappers in the trash. "Sounds rough, hopefully your tutor can help you."

"I hope so too. My last one was a total asshole.", I said, completely forgetting who I was talking to. I choked on my own spit when I realized what I had said. "Sorry for my language, I'm not in trouble, am I?"

"Nah, it's fine.", She said smiling, but then her face got unnaturally serious. "But please don't forget that it can get you in trouble with others."

"I'll keep that in mind.", I got up from where I was sitting. "Well thanks for everything."

"You're ever so welcome.", She said in a weird accent that sounded familiar.

"Hunger Games?", I asked unsure and she nodded. "I didn't know adults watched that as well."

"Well, I'm here to tell you they do.", She mention and walked behind her desk. She gestured me to take a seat in front, on the empty chair next to Elsa. Shit, I had completely forgotten about the blonde, but she didn't seem to mind. She was just sitting there with her arms crossed. "So Anna, I also happen to be the school psychologist."

"That's nice.", I commended a little confused, I wasn't really sure where she was going with this.

"It is very nice.", She agreed as she brought her glasses closer to her face. "So if you ever have any problems, or need to get something off your chest, or just need someone to talk to, that's what I'm here for."

"Thanks I'll remember that.", I nodded. I could easily imagine students coming in to talk to Ms. Connors. She was very approachable, really easy to talk to, and she was so welcoming. She also had a face that told you she wouldn't judge. "I'll be going now."

"Alright.", Her smile reached her soft blue with brown in the middle eyes. I turned to Elsa, who was now standing by the door, ready to go. Not wanting to keep the blonde waiting here any longer, I started heading to the door.

"Elsa.", Ms. Connors said suddenly. I watched as the blonde stopped suddenly and slowly turned back to the nurse. "Could you wait here for a couple minutes?"

The blonde's expression turned hard and gave her a curt nod. I turned back to the nurse and she nodded me on. I didn't want to leave, but I knew I had to. I reluctantly left them alone in the office. I was half-way through when the curiosity got the best of me. I quickly and quietly ran back to the closed door. Holding my breath a bit, I closed my eyes and slowly pressed my right ear against it. Fortunately for me, I could make out everything that that was going on in there.

"...he assign anything?", I heard the voice of Ms. Connors talking to the blonde. From what I could hear, Elsa didn't say anything.

"Elsa.", The nurse said gently. "Talking is a very small, yet at the same time, a very significant step. Please just give it a chance."

I heard a sigh that wasn't from Ms. Connors. "Just a refill like always.", The sound of Elsa's soft voice was a little hard to make out. She was a quiet one that girl.

"And what do you think of it?", Ms. Connors asked cautiously. When the blonde didn't say anything, the nurse coxed. "The sooner we finish, the sooner you can go."

"I like it, but I...", The blonde trailed off. I shut my eyes tighter and pressed my ear harder against the door. "I feel like a traitor.", Elsa finally finished after about a minute. _Huh?_ A million questions went into my head for possible answers.

"A traitor.", The older woman's voice repeated. "To who do you feel a traitor to?"

"I-", The blonde's voice suddenly broke, suggesting she had reached her limit. After a while, I suddenly heard a whimper. It was soft and barely audible. After some quiet sniffing, the blonde spoke again. "I don't want to talk anymore."

_Holy shit! Elsa was crying!_ I never thought this would happen. She was always reserve and emotionless, always in control no matter what. Even when Abby hit her, and hit her hard since I had experienced it first hand, she never looked on the verge of tears or pain. Either she felt nothing, or she was too good at concealing her emotions. I was beginning to believe it was the latter.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do.", Ms. Connors' voice reassuringly. "And I think that's enough for today."

As soon as I heard that, I pulled away from the door and slowly stepped back. Careful not to make too much noise, I rushed out of here as quickly as I could. I didn't stop until I was in front of the locker room. I shook my head and went in. Most of the girls had already left, so there were only a couple inside.

I quickly unlocked my locker and took out my normal clothes, which included my dark green blouse and jeans. When I was in them, I nervously put my stuff away and headed out. I past Elsa as I left and she went in. Her quick glance at me didn't go unnoticed. I couldn't tell if it was just a casual glance or a 'I knew what you were up to' glance. It was probably the former because there was no way she knew I was listening in, but didn't fail to make me nervous.

Once I was in the library, I let out a sigh of relieve. The library was empty save for a few people who were busy with their individual activities. Some were doing homework on the tables, others were on the computers, others were on the book shelves browsing. The scenery calmed me down by a great length. I went over to the same table in the back where I was at yesterday.

My mind trailed off to what Elsa and Ms. Connors were talking about. Elsa apparently got her refill yesterday of whatever it was she took. Guess the rumors of her taking pills were just confirmed. And the whole traitor thing. I had no idea what that was about. Maybe it was about her dead dad. Whose death made her uproot her life and move in with her mom. Maybe she just missed her dad and that was why she felt like a traitor for moving on. That was possible wasn't it?

I sighed shook my head. Elsa was complicated. Then I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I took it out to see Alice's text.

_Waiting for your stupid tutor again?_

I chuckled at it and relied.

_Yeah, you?_

I set the phone on the table and looked around to see what the other students were doing. I looked around while I waited for Alice to respond. If she was going to respond that is. My eyes fell to a couple in the corner making out._ Jesus, get a room you two_. My eyes widen when I saw that the guy's hand was on the inside of her shirt. I turned away with a hot face. I did not need to see that. I looked down at my phone to see Alice's message.

_None of your business :P_

This didn't surprise me. She still hasn't told me what it is she does after school. It was starting to get to me a little, but couldn't tell her that. She'll use it against me somehow.

_Good cuz your adopted._

I liked to tell that one every now and then. When we were little, I told her that and she believed me. She cried herself to sleep that day and I felt so guilty, that I didn't mind it when Mom took away my toys as punishment. I even gave her my chocolate. Nowadays, it was just a joke between the two of us. I set my phone on the table to wait, but her reply came immediately.

_Your so mean! Btw I'm not._

At least bugging Alice was giving me something to do while I waited for the tutor who I was sure wasn't going to show up.

_Are too, where do you think the red hair comes from?_

The funny thing Alice being a redhead was that she didn't come with any freckles like most people, or me. I remembered how two years ago my Biology teachers said that that combination was genetically impossible, but I said that it was and we ended up having an argument about it. I brought in Alice the next day to prove my point and let's just say I got an A plus in that class. And I owed her ten dollars that day for being my show and tell project. My phone lit up a minute later.

_Your hair is red too smartass xD_

I could imagine her laughing at that moment and it brought a smile to my face. I guess it was technically speaking red, but it was more orange at times than actual red like hers.

_Mine's strawberry blonde._

The phone lit up a minute later.

_HA! You're not as special as me. Red hair happens to be very rare. It's all about genetics._

I laughed at this. Someone's been doing their research. I guess it was about genetics, but none of the relatives I've met have had it.

_Nobody in the family has it._

If I was having fun texting my little sister, then oh god, what has become of my life? It took a little longer for her to reply. It meant that either she was busy, or she was thinking about what to say next. And if I knew my sister, then it was the latter.

_Didn't dad have red hair?_

My stomach turned and my heart dropped at the mention of that. I closed my eyes and despite not wanting to, I thought back to what he looked like. My memory of him was very fuzzy and I couldn't make out anything. All I really remembered about him was that one day he was there and the next he was gone. No image of what he looked like in my head and we didn't have any pictures of him.

_I don't remember:(_

Her rely came back two minutes later.

_Me neither..._

I chuckled bitterly at that. I was only four at the time and Alice was just a toddler in diapers. I sometimes felt like I should remember since four was old enough, but I just didn't. I was about to reply when she sent another one.

_Do you think he wants to meet us?_

I felt a lump in my throat at that. I wondered that every time I thought about him. I sighed before replying and setting my phone on the table in front of me.

_If he wanted to, we would have met him already._

I blinked away the tears that were forming on my eyes. It me sad, but it was the harsh truth. If my dad wanted see my sister and I, my mother had it no secret where we were. It was his choice and his choice alone. I used to ask my mom about him when I was little, but then she didn't like to talk about him. And because it clearly made her sad, so I stopped asking. I didn't need him anyway. Just gotta be telling myself that. It was depressing to think about how all this was on Alice. I actually knew him, but she only knew _of_ him and for that, this was harder on her. I guess it was possible to miss someone you've never met.

I felt it was forever before my phone lit up again in front of me, but it was only three minutes later.

_I love you sis_.

I couldn't blink away the tears this time around. A lone, hot tear fell from my face at that and landed on the table. I tremble a little as I struggled to choke back a sob that was threatening to escape.

_I love you too sis_.

I laid the phone on the table and tried to desperately close the dam in my eyes. The phone lit up again.

_I mean it :')_

I smiled warmly at that. Leave it to Alice make me sad and happy at the same time.

_Me too Little Alice:')_

I felt the room get cold as I waited for my sister to reply. The air conditioner was acting up again, but I didn't mind it since it was kind of hot in here anyway. A part of me didn't think that Alice would reply but she did.

_I have to go now. Don't forget to pick me up_:)

I replied back.

_See you later dork:P_

As soon as I send that last reply, I wiped my eyes with both my hands. I was brought back to reality when someone cleared their throat loudly in front of me.

My teary green-blue eyes looked up to find icy blue eyes looking back at me. She had a box of tissues in hand and was in the process of sliding it over to my side of the table. I didn't want to take one, but I did anyway and cleaned my eyes. I even blew my nose at the forming snot in my nose. Gross. While I was doing this, Elsa had set a water bottle in front of me as well. I eyed it and slid it on her side of the table.

With furrowed brows, she slid it back to my side. I shook my head as I tried to form words.

"I don't need it.", I managed to say, through my raspy voice.

"I think you do.", She said gently with no hint of annoyance nor anger. Her face was sincere and had concern written in her eyes.

I sniffed a little and wiped my eyes again. "No no it's fine.", I said and cleared my throat. "I just get a little emotional when I think about uh things. That's all."

She nodded slowly in understanding. I couldn't look at her, so I stared at the desk. The water bottle was still there.

"I really don't want it.", I told her.

"I wasn't asking.", She said more firmly. She took and the water bottle, opened it, and set in front of me. "Drink.", She ordered. Her voice was firm, but at the same time, it was soft and gentle.

Seeing how she wasn't taking no for an answer and the fact that I didn't want to deal with Elsa's stubbornness, I took it. "Alright.", I said and took a drink from the water bottle. The cold liquid ran pleasantly down my throat, down my chest, and finally to my stomach. I didn't know I was thirsty until I had finished more than half of it in one go.

"Thank you.", I said when I was finished. I set the water bottle on the table next to my phone. How Elsa managed to keep it cold in this heat, I'll never know. While I was drinking, Elsa had taken out her Chemistry book as well as the purple notebook she uses for that class which was opened to a blank page.

She gestured me to do the same, so I took out my own Chemistry out of my backpack and some paper to write with. Once that done, we opened both our books to where today's homework was.

This was confusing. I honestly couldn't see Elsa as the one who was supposed to help me, but it made sense because she was smartest one in class. "Um not trying to be Captain Obvious or anything, but are you my tutor?"

She stopped writing whatever she was with her blue pen and gazed into my eyes. I stared at her apprehensively for what felt like forever until she answered curtly. "I am."

* * *

**A/N: Future updates might be late because school wants my full attention at the moment. Hope you understand. Oh, and Jack Frost is one of the characters that isn't from here, obviously. And the other one isn't Steve Rogers, but good guess. He's supposed to be a human Sven with a name change. Sorry if that confused you, my fault :)**

**One more thing.**

**To Guest: Elsa's dad died at sea during a storm, like in the movie. And it's mentioned in Chapter 4 in case you're wondering. Bye! :D**


	11. Chapter 11

"_I'm tuggin' at my hair, I'm pullin' at my clothes._

_I'm trying to keep my cool, I know it shows."_

_Things I'll Never Say -Avril Lavigne_

* * *

I honked the horn of my car again. I had sworn to myself that I wouldn't be late again, and I had every intend of keeping that promise. The only class that this applied to, of course, was stupid Gold's class. Reliving yesterday humiliation was not on my agenda today. No thank you.

"I'm coming, I'm coming.", Alice said smiling as she got in the car. That girl, she finds joy in annoying me.

"Thank you.", I said sarcastically as I immediately pulled out of the driveway and headed to school fast, just barely below the speed limit.

"I don't see why you're in such a rush today.", Alice huffed and she put her seat-belt. "Since when do you care so much anyway?"

"Because of somebody, I was late to first period and the stupid teacher made a fucking example out of me." I snapped. I knew I sounded like a bitch and all, but the fact that I had hardly gotten any sleep the night before was getting to me. "Hand me some coffee will you?", She smirked and handed me her drink. I took a long sip before giving it back to her. Good thing it was just warm, or else it would have burn my tongue.

"I would have liked to see that.", She said with joy in her eyes that caused me to roll my own. We stayed in awkward silence for a couple minutes before she turned to me in curiosity. "So um who is your tutor?"

I hadn't told her since she wouldn't tell me why she stayed after school. It worried me a little, but I trusted her judgment seventy-five percent of the time. The other twenty-five went down because of her bad perception of time yesterday. I just seriously hoped though that she wasn't seeing anybody, or else I would have to lay down the law. The last thing she needed was a boy in her life. God, just thinking about that made me feel old. "There's only one way to find out and you know it."

"Still with that?", She was half-amused and half-annoyed at that.

"I find it strange that you're not telling me considering were sisters and we always tell each other everything.", I informed her and she nodded. "It's not like I'm going to judge you anyway."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, it bothers me a little too.", She looked out the window and then sighed before turning back to me. "I'll tell later, alright?", She said that, but I wasn't convinced and she knew it. She sighed in irritation and held out her pinky. I smirked in victory and locked my own with hers. "I promise.", She said.

"Good.", I exhaled a deep breath.

"So...", She playfully coaxed a little. "Who's the stupid tutor who ditched you last Monday?"

I chuckled. "Okay, um you know who Elsa is, right?"

"You mean that weird blonde chick that kicked Abby's butt?", She grinned as she took a sip on her coffee. I didn't like her choice of words there, but I was about to argue with her about it.

"That's the one.", I confirmed it.

"So is she living up to her Ice Queen name?", She asked curiously.

"Not really, quite the opposite actually.", I said as I thought back to how patient and considerate she was the entire time. I had a feeling that maybe her seeing me crying a bit might have had something to do with it, but my gut was telling me that it didn't. "She can rude and all, but she's really nice."

"So what you're saying is...", Alice took a sip on her coffee. "God this is good.", She murmured before turning back to me. "So what you're saying, is that she's a bitch by choice, not because she's not capable of being nice?"

"Pretty much.", I agreed. I thought the same thing when she was teaching me, until I came to a conclusion. "But I think that she just does that to drive others away."

"Why the hell would she do that?", My little sister asked as she set her coffee on the cup holder. "Most people actually want friends, especially if you're in high school."

"In case you haven't noticed she always separates herself from others anyway.", I said and then shrugged. "She likes to be alone, I've learned that much."

"Introverts these days.", Alice playfully scoffed and smiled. "Well I'm glad she isn't, that would've sucked like that asshole tutor from San Francisco."

"Tell me about it.", I agreed.

* * *

During lunch, I was by myself because all of my friends were out of action. Steve didn't come to school at all because he had to get his eyes checked out. He might be getting new glasses, but I wouldn't know for sure. Kristoff had left a couple minutes ago for a football game that was out of town. I could tell he didn't want to leave, but I insisted that he go. I was sure his team wouldn't appreciate him ditching them to go hang out with a girl he just met the first day of school.

And Marshall, well she was in detention for flipping a teacher off. She justified herself by saying that he was asking for it. Not saying that I approved of it, but it sure made me laugh. She even snuck out of detention to tell me this instead of sending me a text or a call like a normal person would. Not sure how she pulled that off, but okay. I wasn't about to question Marshall's ninja skills.

I had thought about going to hang out with Alice, but that would be too weird. I knew she wouldn't mind having me over, but I couldn't help but feel a little pathetic about the whole idea of it. I knew a couple other people here and there, but I wasn't on the 'let's have lunch together' basis with them anyway. So now I was on my way to the library. My reasons were that I needed to find something new to read anyway and maybe a little alone time was an order.

"Hey Anna.", A familiar male voice said behind me. I stopped and slowly turned. My throat went dry and I fought the urge to drop my jaw. Hans somehow managed to still look as handsome as ever in his plain white T-shirt and navy jeans.

I gulped nervously before responding. "Hi Hans."

"You're a hard girl to find, you know that?", Hans' confidence melted into his words as he brushed his auburn hair with his fingers.

"I- I know.", I cleared my throat after this. _Keep it together Anna_, I mentally told myself.

"How about we make up for lost time over dinner.", He suggested while shooting me a brilliant smile that made my stomach turn. I stared at him dumbfounded._ Did I hear right?_

"Are you asking me out?", Those stupid words slipped right past my defense. I felt my face get hot in embarrassment. I just got myself an A for awkwardness. _Way to go Anna_.

He chuckled sweetly and it calmed me down. "Guilty as charged.", He waved his hands in surrender. I was glad that he was playing it off, it made me more confident. "I really like you and I want to get to know you better."

I pushed a stead of hair that was in front of my face to the back of my ear. "Okay."

"Great, how about Friday at say 8?", Hans meekly suggested, but I couldn't form words here. I couldn't find my voice and even hear anything from my surroundings due to the pounding of my heart in my chest. _Oh god what is happening to me_. I was acting like a high school lovestruck teenager. Oh wait, that pretty much describes me at the moment. He took my silence the wrong the way because his bight green eyes sadden a bit and I didn't like it. "If you would rather-"

"No, no, no, no, no.", I caught myself. "I mean yes- I- I-", I stopped talking and took a deep breath. "What I meant to say was that I would love to."

His gorgeous face lit up again and I almost sighed in relief. "Sounds great then. May I have the pleasure of having your phone number."

"You may.", I smiled brightly and the butterflies in my stomach wouldn't stop moving around in there. Yeah, this guy was gonna be the end of me. I happily took out a pen from my backpack and I ripped out a piece of paper from the binder I was carrying in my arms. Once it was written, I gave it to him and he gave me his.

"I'll call you alright?", Hans said with a smiling face.

"Sounds great.", I said while beaming at him as he suddenly leaned in close and his lips made contact with my cheek. I blushed furiously at this and so did he, except he was proud at his actions.

"I'll see you around gorgeous.", He whispered into my ear and it left me paralyzed. _Holy shit!_ Before I could form a reaction to this, he left.

As he was confidently walking down the hallway, I touched my warm cheek. I could still feel that kiss there, it wouldn't leave me. My knees felt weak and I feared I would fall on my stupid face if I didn't do something about it, so I leaned against one of the lockers for support.

Honestly, I felt like I was on top of the world. Like I was I invincible and nothing at all could stop me. I honestly could not believe that I just got a date with the greatest guy in school! I wanted to scream it at the top of my lungs, but I knew I shouldn't. I couldn't believe how I, an average girl, had gotten the attention of Hans. He could have anyone, and he chose me! It made me light headed just thinking about it.

I sighed in happiness and continued on my way to the library. When I arrived there, I turned my books in and went over to the shelves to find something. But I just couldn't. I was too excited for my date with Hans that was in two days and eight hours away, not that anyone was counting. After accepting that I wasn't going to find anything, I headed over to the tables. A couple students were there doing homework, others reading, or just plain hanging out. All the tables were full, except for one. But it had only one person on it.

_Elsa_. I thought to myself. She was sitting by herself on the last table in the corner away from everyone. Her platinum blonde hair with black ends was down, it landed perfectly on her shoulders. A dark gray beanie was covering the top of her head, while her bangs were leaning toward the left. My eyes went down to her chest to see if I would find it and find it I did. The white number stood out proudly against her thin royal blue sweater. I frown at it a bit at that damn number. I used to see it as just her favorite number or something along the lines of that, but now, I was beginning to see it more as a label and I didn't like that.

I eyed her with curiosity before walking to her. I think it was safe to assume we were now on talking terms. She didn't ignore me too much yesterday during our tutoring session, only on the stupid questions I asked, which was understandable. Plus, I was still kind of high on the thought of my date with Hans, so I was feeling pretty confident about everything. Going over to her didn't sound like a bad idea at all, it sounded like a great idea actually.

"Mind if I join you?", I asked when I had gotten to her quicker than I expected. I was standing in front of the empty chair in front of her.

"Yes.", She simply said, too interested in her book to look up at me.

"Sweet, thanks!", I said as I happily took the seat and set my backpack on the table. As soon as I did, Elsa looked up at me in disbelief, her eyes were telling me 'Really?'. This confused me a great deal. "What?"

"You asked if I minded and I answered yes.", She said as she turned back to her book.

"Yeah, so?", I asked, still confused by this. _Yes means yes, don't it?_ I thought about her not so helpful explanation until I understood what she meant. As soon as the realization slapped me across the face, blood rushed furiously to my cheeks. I don't think I've ever blushed his much in my life before. This was totally embarrassing. I gulped nervously. I tired to get up and leave in my humiliation, but my legs weren't feeling up to the task. This made me panic slightly.

From my peripheral vision, I saw Elsa letting out a sigh. "I suppose I can't kick you out."

Her words hung in the air for a bit before my brain finally processed what she was saying. It was kind of an invitation. An indirect one, that is.

"You mean it?", I asked in disbelief. I mean from any other person, it would make sense, but this was Elsa. With rich blue eyes still fixed to her novel, she nodded curtly. When she did, I nodded and relaxed into my seat.

To say that Elsa was tense was the understatement of the century. If I could see her aura, and if it was black, I don't think I would have been able to see her at all. She would be covered in it. Her shoulders were set square and she was sitting as if she had a board in her back keeping her straight in place. She holding her book in her gloved hands as if she was hanging on for dear life. And her face was probably the worse part. Her jaw was set hard and her eyes weren't moving as you would expect from reading, but rather they were just staring blankly at the book as if trying get past the one word that was giving her trouble.

A pang of guilt rushed over me for doing this to her. Here she was at peace, and I had to come and ruin it for her. My eyes moved to the books that were piled up on the table beside her. I frowned at it a bit and it failed to go unnoticed by the blonde herself. She gave me a questioning look, but I didn't feel like answering. She'll probably hate me if I did.

"What is it?", She asked after a minute of this, her curiosity getting the best of her. I found it a bit assuming her asking me a question.

"Nothing.", I said it way too quickly and it made her narrow her rich blue eyes at me, clearly telling me that she wasn't buying it and wanted to know. She marked the page in her book and closed it before setting it on the table. She propped her elbows on the table and rested her head on her opened palms, giving me her undivided attention. Coming from her, it was intimating. "It's nothing, really.", I said in my nervousness.

"It's clearly something.", She countered. Her eyes moved to her books and then back to me. Then they lit up in a little understanding. "You don't like my selection.", It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

"It's not that I don't like it. It's just-", I stopped and took a deep breaths. "It's just, well you know.", I gestured to the novels on beside her.

This seemed to confuse her more than she already was. "I don't understand."

"What I meant was that, um...", I trailed off as I tried to find the right words for this. I didn't want to unintentionally insult her. "It's just that, don't you read anything from this century?"

"Oh.", Elsa seemed to finally get the message. Her eyes widen at bit as she had seen a ghost, but then she collected herself. "I see."

"Not that there's anything wrong with it of course.", I said quickly as she face turned into a frown. "We all have different preferences and taste and I totally respect yours. I mean you're the one who's reading them, so it's none of my business.", By now she was very unhappy, I could tell. _God I'm such a fuck up sometimes._

"You're right.", She said after a minute of tense silence and glared at me with cold eyes. _This is gonna hurt_. "It's none of your business.", _And ouch_.

"Elsa, I-", I stopped when she swiftly got up. She gathered her stuff in her arms and walked out of the library in silence. A couple students who watched what had happened stared at me, but didn't say anything. Which was good, because if they did, I would have flipped them off.

Maybe it was just me, every time Elsa and I somehow managed to get along, I always ruin it. It's never intentional though. But in my defense, it's not my fault that Elsa has no tolerance for any of my bullshit. If she could just chill out a bit, I'm sure we would hit it off nicely. I sighed in frustration. She was so frustrating, that girl. I sat there in silence until it was time to head to my next class.

I seriously considered ditching as I got closer to it. I wanted to so badly, it would so easy and the temptation was so strong. But I knew I shouldn't. My mom would throw a fit if I did and I really couldn't miss that class, I needed all the help I could get. Plus, it wasn't like I had anywhere to go to anyway. I suppose I could go hide in one of the bathroom stalls, but really? A bathroom stall? No thanks. I'll have to ask Kristoff and Marshall when I saw them again. Kristoff has ditched before, so he probably knew a thing or two. And Marshall, she seemed like the type to just know. I was about to text her, but decided against when I saw that I was standing in front of the door to my class. Might as will get this over with.

Elsa was already sitting there when I went in. I wanted for apologized, but at the same time I didn't want to. A part of me was yelling that she didn't deserve it. Honestly, who gets mad over a little thing like that? I huffed and took my place next to her. At least class will get my mind out of her.

"Everyone settle down.", A female voice said. _Huh?_ I looked up to see that we had a substitute teacher in place of Mr. Oaken. "Your teacher left no assignment for today, so just think of this class as study hall for today."

"Fuck yeah!", Duke's annoying voice cheered in victory, as did the rest of the class.

I was thinking more around the lines of 'Fuck no!'. Now I had no distraction from the blonde. I huffed annoyance. The one day he doesn't show up. I tried my best to not pay attention to her, but it was impossible. It was like when you're wearing a white shirt and it gets stained. You try to ignore it, but it just stands out at you.

But at least I was able to not look in her direction for almost the whole class by distracting myself with the games in my phone. But it was very hard though. Especially when I felt her stare at me every now and then.

I took a quick glance at Elsa in the last ten minutes, but that was my mistake. She did the same and when our eyes met, I couldn't look away. This confrontation was happening and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I was about to glare at her, but my heart sank when I saw how sad her blues eyes were. She was the first to break eye contact by turning her attention to her phone, which was sitting on top of her desk. It was then that I decided to swallow my pride. Staying mad at Elsa wasn't gonna make me feel better. And watching her be sad was definitely not making me any happier, I wasn't that type of person. "I'm sorry."

Elsa's head suddenly snapped up and gave me a confused look. "For what?"

"I upsetted you.", I told her. I was confused that she was asking, but at this point, I'm just gonna go with it. "I know I can be such a bitch sometimes but-", I stopped talking when her face told me to.

She pursed her lips before speaking again. "I'm not mad at you."

This caught me off guard. "You weren't mad that I questioned your choice of reading?"

She shook her head.

"Really?", I asked despite myself. She nodded slowly in response. "Then why did you walk out on me then? If you don't mind me asking."

She sat silence as she processed my words. I had a feeling that she wouldn't answer, she barely spoke to Ms. Connors and even then, the nurse had to gave her a reason to cooperate. And right now, I had nothing to offer that would make her talk.. "You reminded me of people I used to know and I couldn't take it.", I could hear the hurt in her voice as she said that. Clearly something happened there, too bad I couldn't question her without getting disappointing results.

Instead, I settled for wanting to lighten her mood a bit and I think I knew how to do it. "Sorry to inform Missy, but I am one of kind. Nobody is as awesome as me.", I joked and it seemed to do the job. She didn't laugh, nor smile for that matter, but it did get rid of that sad face and that was all I wanted.

"Sure you are.", She said simply.

I couldn't but giggle a little at this. "I am.", Then I took a look at her. I could see that she wanted to smile, but she was holding herself back. I think that maybe the Ice Queen just thawed about three degrees. "I actually think that you're the most original person I know."

"I'm just a carbon copy of someone else.", She stated out of nowhere. A pained expression suddenly settled on her face with widen eyes, as if she had just confessed a crime. I didn't know what was going on with her and I didn't see what the big deal was, so I chose to ignore it.

"I guess you and Jack are technically copies of each other with the whole identical twin thing you guys had going on, but you two couldn't be more different.", I told her. "I mean look at your hair.", I gestured to her hair. She let out a sigh of relief and nodded.

"You're right.", The platinum blonde told me slowly. She opened her mouth to say more, but was interrupted by the bell ringing loud and proud. When it died down, she got up and headed to the door without giving me a second glance.

Not wanting to let her out of my sight, I quickly followed her out of the classroom. It was hard to keep up with her with the mob of students in the way, all heading in different directions. But at least I didn't lose her. Her platinum blonde hair made her stand out from the sea of normal hair color students.

"Elsa!", I called her out. To my disappointment, she didn't stop. I was about ready to give up when I become aware of how close I was getting to her. That's when I realized that though she didn't stop, she did at least slow down for me to catch up. I grinning widely and caught with her. "Thank for slowing down."

She didn't response, but I didn't care at that point. Elsa had allowed me to walk with her to P.E. and that was more than enough for me. We walked together down the flight of stairs in silence. But it was a comfortable silence. It was a good difference from the tense and awkward silence we always have.

When we got to the locker room, Elsa fiddled with her lock with trembling hands, but managed to quickly open her locker quickly anyway and then rushed out to the restrooms to change. I really didn't see why she had to do that. A girl with her body type had nothing to worry about. I was about to tell her that before she left, but it sounded wrong in my head. And if it sounded wrong in my head, then it definitely sounded wrong out loud.

I turned to my locker and then put in the combination. I pulled the door open, but it wouldn't go. I furrowed my eyebrows and pulled harder, but it still wouldn't open. _What the hell_. I tightly grabbed the handle with both my hands, even put my foot against the locker of support and for extra pulling force. I felt blood to my face with effort as I furiously pulled at it with all my might. It wouldn't open for me. I exhaled the breath I was holding and looked behind me to see if anyone would help, only to find that I was the only one here. God, I didn't even notice when everyone left. I was already behind as it was, but now I officially late for class, which meant laps around the track. _Great, just great_.

"Come on Anna.", I told myself as I rubbed my hands together and pulled my stupid door again with newfound determination. My grip on it slipped and I ended falling on the cold hard floor. "Stupid door.", I mumbled as I got up and rubbed my stupid aching behind. I gave my door a questioning look, I didn't even know how this was happening. It was as if someone had filled it super glue or something. But even if it was super glue, I highly doubted it would have put in this much trouble.

I was about to give it another try when I heard footsteps heading toward me. I turned to see the blonde coming toward me. She was already in her P.E. clothes and all. I thought she had left, but it looked like she just got back from the restrooms.

"Can you please help me get my locker open?", I asked nicely. If Elsa couldn't open it, then there was no way in hell anyone else could. She had very great strength, I had seen it in her fight with Abby not even a week ago. I mean, she easily stopped Abby's fist from making contact with her face and even broke her wrist. I was weak compared to her, so she had a greater chance of getting it open.

She nodded and proceeded to help me. I watch in nervous anticipation as she slowly placed her gloved hands on the handle and pulled hard. Her pale cheeks flushed with effort, but it was wasted since it wouldn't budge for her either. She sighed with she failed and stepped back to study the issue here.

"I honestly don't know what's wrong with it.", I informed. "It's like there's something holding it from the inside."

"Together.", She ordered and I nodded. We both placed both of our hands on the handle. I seriously hoped that we didn't break the handle off. There was only so much abuse it could take before we pulled it off.

"On three.", I instructed and she grunted in agreement. "One, two, three!", We both pulled with all our might. I exhaled deeply at the struggle. "Come on!", I said through my gritted teeth and pulled harder.

_Snap!_ At the sound of that, both Elsa and I went down. I hurt my butt again. I saw that we didn't break the handle, but rather the door had slammed opened hard all the way out. I peered at it from where I was on the floor. I couldn't see anything inside at all. It was dark and there was smoke slowly steaming out it. _Wait what?_ No way this was smoke, I would have smelled it. I slowly pushed myself up and got a closer look. I gasped when a weak gust of cold air hit my face.

I think my eyes nearly popped out of my head at the sight. The inside was covered in ice. The ice was stuck onto the walls on the inside of my locker, it must have sealed it shut. There was a thick layer of frost covering all my belongings. It was like the inside of a meat locker. Whoever did this is a very dedicated prankster for sure. How they were ever to pull this off was beyond my understanding. Some of the ice cracked as it was exposed to warm air.

My hand moved to grab my P.E. shirt, but a gloved hand wrapped itself around my wrist to prevent me from doing so. I gave Elsa a questioning look, but did as she instructed without words. I moved my hand back to my side. Elsa then reached for the inside of my locker and pulled out my frozen shirt. It was as stiff as a board, frozen in the same glob I left it in yesterday.

"Give it here.", I said as I eyed my shirt. I saw that the blonde hesitated, but reluctantly gave it to me. I held it for a split second before quickly letting go of it. It was fucking freezing! I looked frantically at Elsa, it was amazing how she was able to calmly hold it. Maybe it was her gloves, but even then though. As soon as it hit the floor, it shattered. I'm not kidding when I say that my shirt shattered like a fragile piece of glass. I didn't even know that was possible. All the pieces went in different directions across the floor. "There goes my shirt.", I mumbled at this.

"I'm sorry.", I looked up to see her guilty face and I didn't like it. Her face looked prettier when she wasn't expressing any negative emotions. Besides, it wasn't her fault that some bitch froze my stuff and pretty much destroyed everything in it. It was a good thing that the only thing I had of value in there was my extra phone charger, but it didn't matter too much at the moment. Good thing that was it, or else that would have sucked.

"It's just a shirt.", I told her as I kicked one of the frozen pieces out of the way. "I wonder who I pissed off this time.", I thought out loud.

"Nobody.", Elsa murmured bitterly to herself as her fist balled up in anger. I put a hand on her shoulder to relax her, but she suddenly stiff at my touch. Not wanting to make her uncomfortable, I withdrew my hand.

"It's really no big deal.", I tried to ease her negative emotions. "Besides, it's not like you caused the stupid ice anyway."

She chuckled darkly while shaking her head. "You're right."

_What has gotten into her?_ I wanted to question her, but I felt obligated to not ruin anything with her, so I held my tongue. "I'll just go get some help.", I told her as I headed to the exit. When I made it to the gym, Mr. Smith had everyone running laps around the basketball courts. Maybe having my stuff frozen wasn't a total waste.

"Keep it up maggots!", He yelled to the others as he headed to me. "What is it Anderson?"

"Someone froze my locker and everything in it.", I informed him.

"Come again.", He said as he took off this sunglasses and looked me in the eye.

"My locker is covered in ice.", I told him more slowly.

"Ice?", He asked for clarification and I nodded. "How in the devil did they do that?", He asked as he scratched the back of his head.

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Do you any idea of who did it?", He asked as he wrote something in his clipboard. I thought about it for a moment. It had to be someone I knew, but I couldn't come up with anyone who would be capable. Unless they were good actors.

"I don't who could have done it.", I said as I shook my head.

"You're just naturally prone to trouble ain't ya?", Mr. Smith chuckled as he took out this walkie-talkie.

This annoyed me. "It's not like I ask for it."

The gym teacher just shrugged boringly. "If you say so. Just go wait over there then, someone's on their way."

I nodded and headed back. I chuckled when he yelled at the others for slowing down. _Definitely not a waste_. When I entered the locker room, it was freaking freezing in there. Seriously, someone needs to fix that damn air conditioner. I rubbed my arms with my hands to prevent goosebumps.

"Damn cold.", I muttered when it got colder. When I got to my locker, Elsa was no where to be found. I sighed and sat down on the small bench to wait. Of course she left.

In the corner of my eye, I saw that there was a paper that I knew wasn't there when I left. I turned and saw that it was an index card with the blank side up. I picked it and read Elsa's nice handwriting, though I had a good idea of what it would say.

_Tutoring's canceled, don't wait_.

I sighed, and my eyes moved to my frozen locker. At least I can say that it wasn't me who drove her away this time around. But it did, however, spike my curiosity. _Why would a stupid ice prank bother her so much?_

* * *

**A/N: Hope you all have an awesome spring break! :D**


	12. Chapter 12

"_Sky falls, you feel like it's a beautiful day._

_Don't let it get away."_

_Beautiful Day -U2_

* * *

"Stupid headache.", I murmured to myself as I walked through the sea of students going in different directions. I rubbed my temple with my hand to sooth the throbbing pain. _God I should've stayed home_. I wanted to stay home, and I would have too. My mom wouldn't mind it too much, just so long as I stayed on top of my studies. And she could also take Alice to school, so I wouldn't have to worry about whether or not she had a ride or not. But it was already Friday, and I've made it this far, so I thought I might as will finish the week.

I found my little group of friends sitting down at our usual table. Kristoff was excitedly telling a story. He was wearing his green football jersey and jean shorts. If I knew him, he was probably talking about the game that he was going to have later in the day. Steve was sitting directly in front of him, and man I swore that a haircut was long overdue for his very shaggy brown hair. It was beginning to reach his neck, and the only reason he was still able to see was because of his glasses. They held his hair up there, so it didn't bush in front of his eyes. And Marshall, well, she was her usual self with her black eyeliner around her stormy gray eyes. She was wearing her worn out black Linkin Park shirt. I've seen her in it so many times, that it was strange to see her without it at times. She had newer ones, but this was her favorite. According Steve, she got it at an actual concert, so it had a special place in her heart with its fond memories of the night

I envied them a bit for the smiles on their faces. But it was nice to see that at least they were having a nice day as oppose to my shitty one so far. It was just one of those days. Stupid Gold picked on me again today. We had a reading to do, and I only needed about five more pages to finish the chapter when I stopped. I figured it wouldn't make a difference, so I planned on finishing it over the weekend. But then he decided to quiz me, of all the students in class, on some important event that apparently happened in the pages I didn't read. And of course he quizzed me out loud in front of everyone else, and I looked like a total idiot again. I sighed. That guy was out to get me, I swear.

And to top it off, I fell on the stairs going up. Thankfully I didn't get hurt, but it did opened the cuts on my knees, which was fucking painful, and though it only bled a bit, it soaked threw my jeans anyway. So now, I had small dark brown spots on my knees. Oh and Duke Weselton was behind me when it happened and when I turned around, the little perv was practically ogling at my ass. Being checked out by the annoying little Duke was not my to do list, so no thank you.

"Hey Banana!", Marshall greeted as I sat in front of her, with Steve next to me.

"Banana? Totally haven't heard that one before.", I mumbled as I laid my sensitive head on my cool table. Yeah, that felt nice. I felt my pulse beating hard in my forehead against the cool gray table.

"You seem a little down.", Steve observed with concern as he took a bite of his apple. "What wrong?"

"My head is killing me today.", I informed them. This headache was not letting up anytime soon without any help. "I don't suppose you guys have anything for it?"

Kristoff and Steve shook their heads simultaneously, but Marshall was another story. "I got some Advil here.", She offered as she zipped her backpack open and began to search for it.

"Why do you have painkillers with you?", The burly blond asked as he asked the back of his head while watching Marshall next to him.

"Because young Kristopher.", Marshall started as she took out a small packet which I gratefully took. I opened it and found two blue capsule. "It controls my demon side when my 'friend' pays a visit."

"Friend? Marshall, no one else can tolerate you like we can.", Kristoff knitted his dark blond brows in confusion. Steve chuckled his friend's ignorance, but didn't say anything, instead choosing to see how far it would go. I found it assuming as well, so I held my tongue. "Unless you're living a double life or something."

"Are you fucking kidding me?", The girl in front of me asked as she stared him down with her gray eyes. He was a little shaken back by Marshall's reaction, but innocently nodded. Marshall crossed her arms and shook her head disapprovingly. "Hopeless.", She murmured. "Absolutely hopeless."

Kristoff crossed her arms over his chest. "I wouldn't be so _hopeless_,", He put emphasis on that word with air quotations. "If you would stop speaking in code."

Marshall glared at him. "If you didn't have such a thick skull, you would have gotten it already."

"Marshall, for the last time, my skull is not thick.", He said as he knocked on the side of his blond head to prove his point.

Marshall scoffed a chuckle, eyes with glee. "Yeah right."

Kristoff groaned and turned to Steve for help. "Oh wise Captain, what the hell is she talking about. Who is this 'friend' she speaks of?"

Steve put his hands up in surrender. "Hey man, I'm staying out of his one.", He shook his head and chuckled. "It's too funny to just stop it."

The football player then turned to me with hope in his brown eyes. "Anna what is she talking about?"

I laughed a bit. "Do you really want to know?", He nodded enthusiastically at the thought of finally knowing what Marshall meant. I wasn't sure whether or not to end the joke on my ignorant friend just, but I decided that he has had enough. I smiled wickedly and gestured him to lean across the table. With my mouth near his ear, I was somehow able to whisper it without bursting into laughter.

"Oh.", He said without looking at anyone. Slowly, pink appeared on his cheeks. Not able to hold it back anymore, everyone, safe for Kristoff, began to shamelessly laughing at him. Oh man, this moment just made my day.

"Yeah.", I chuckled. It was then that I realized that my headache had greatly subsided from where it originally was. Huh? Laughter really is the best medicine. I smiled happily at this revelation. I decided to play it safe anyway. I popped the blue pill into my mouth and washed it with my water bottle. "Thanks.", I said to Marshall when I realized that I had forgotten to.

She waved it off with a flick of her wrist. "Don't mention it."

"So are you playing out of town again?", Steve asked his friend.

"Yeah, we leave right after school.", He answered as his eyes lit up, his embarrassment forgotten. "I'm so pumped up for it. We're totally winning that shit!"

"Good to hear.", Marshall murmured as he checked her phone. "Can't have you fucking up like on Wednesday's game."

"I heard that.", Kristoff rolled his chocolate eyes.

"You were supposed to.", Marshall said a smug expression, she didn't bother to look up at him and continued to stroll down her phone.

Kristoff bumped his shoulder with her. "Anyway, Jason's gonna be visiting some family when we get back later and for the first part of tomorrow.", Kristoff paused. "And his parents are gonna be out of town later that night, so guess what that means?", He smirked.

"Party time?", Marshall and Steve said simultaneously and stared at each other. "Jinx!", They laughed when this happened.

"I'm not buying you a soda.", Marshall said when they recovered.

"Ha ha, me neither.", Steve chuckled.

She faked a pout. "And here I thought your mother raised a gentleman."

"I'm a modern man.", Steve pushed his glasses up. "And I happen to believe in equal rights and treatment."

"Damn that feminist movement!", She pretended to be mad by punching the table. "And here I wanted to be treated like a lady for once."

"Lady?", Kristoff snorted. "Yeah right."

"Oh, fuck you.", Marshall mumbled with a chuckled. "So we're partying tomorrow then?"

"Hell yeah we are.", The football player said. "Let's go tomorrow night around nine."

"Sounds good.", Steve said and turned to me. "You in Anna?"

"Sure, I'm up for it.", I shrugged. "Let's do it."

"Hey you guys!", I heard Jack's voice cheerfully behind me.

"Hey!", I said turning around. Jack smiled brightly with his white teeth. His light brown hair was messed up cutely as always. His white T-shirt had the words 'Hello' on it in blue letters.

"Hey Anna, I forgot to give you back your test review, so uh here.", He awkwardly handed me my review worksheets. _So that's where they went_. Jack was normally confident, but I think the glares Kristoff and Steve were sending him was getting to him. I mouthed 'stop' to them, but they deliberately ignored me. Marshall seemed a little uncomfortable at the whole thing and I couldn't blame her. She was in middle ground right now.

"Okay cool thanks.", I said said hoping that he would leave before one of the guys could tell him off.

"Yeah, um I'll be going now.", He held his brown handbag with his pale hands and quickly rushed away. He reminded me of his sister in the way his shoulders were tense up the same way as her while he left.

I sighed and glared at my friends. "Jack's a very nice guy, you know?"

Kristoff snorted. "So how can a nice guy be a shitty brother."

"Kristopher fuck off already.", Marshall mumbled as her whipped her head in his direction with a glare

I sighed. "Elsa practically made him not interfere. He wanted to help, he really did, but he didn't want to get on his sister's bad side."

"Really?", Steve asked and I nodded. I could see the regret in his brown eyes, so that meant that he would be able to come around soon. I turned to Kristoff and saw that his case was a completely different story.

He crossed his arms and looked away. "I'm not buying it."

"Well don't buy it then.", I smirked and crossed my arms. "Just cut him some slack alright?", It was funny how just a week ago, I had defended Elsa and now I was defending her brother. I wondered if they had a third sibling, but Jack had mentioned being an only child growing up, so that ruled that out.

"Fine.", He said with his arms raised in surrender.

"Good.", I smiled in victory and then gave them a wicked look. "Who knows, even he'll take Steve's place as your best friend."

"Hey!", Steve protested and Marshall burst in laughter.

"Yeah right.", Kristoff snorted. "Like I said before Anna, the Captain and I go way back."

"You know it bro.", Steve said in agreement and they fist pumped each other.

"Why don't you two get married already.", Marshall sarcastically suggested with a smirk on her face, earning glares from the guys.

I shook my head as I chuckled at this. It was funny how they all put up with each other's remarks. When I looked back up, my eyes wandered over to the table in the corner and thus, to the blonde sitting there on her own. I furrowed my eyebrows in curiosity. Her eyes were on her book, but I couldn't shake off the strong feeling in the pit of my stomach that her attention was on me.

* * *

"Alright maggots! Listen up!", The gym teacher said when he finished taking roll. "We're just playing basketball in the gym today!"

I smiled inwardly, careful not to look too happy about this. If the coach knew we liked this arrangement too much, then he would sure as hell make us do something else. He was that type of teacher. I liked basketball, well that's kind of a lie. I just liked shooting it into the basketball. I wasn't too fond of actual games too much because for me, it was a real struggle to get the ball back once it was stolen from you.

Mr. Smith split the class in half to create two teams. Luckily, Steve and I ended up in the same team. We had mostly guys on our team, so that was good because it meant I wouldn't go up against any of them. This one time last year, I literally got tackled to the floor by this freakishly tall guy. But I didn't blame him though. It was an accident and he helped me up and went easy on me afterward. I was just happy he wasn't an asshole about it.

I took a glance at the other side of the court to see the opposing team. There were more girls there, but one look at them told me they were athletes. They were the type that just had the vibe you know? I then noticed the unmistakable platinum blonde hair way back and very much away from all the others. She was standing there with both hands in her pockets.

Something was different about her and I didn't know what it was. Maybe it was the way she was impatiently tabbing her left foot on the gym floor or the fact that she looked terrible again. She looked paler than usual and her eyes were red. Like she had just finished crying, but it was like that all day, so that wasn't it. Maybe she had a cold going on, but I didn't think so. The weather hadn't changed yet, she hadn't shown any of the real signs of a cold. Maybe it was from lack of sleep. I once pulled an all nighter and my eyes were bloodshot until I got the sleep I needed.

I wouldn't be surprised if that really was the reason. She hadn't shown up at school yesterday. At first I thought that she was doing it to avoid me, but then Jack filled me in that she's always out of town on the 19th of every month. I had asked him where she goes, but he said he didn't know since she always keeps to herself. He said that their mother was opposed to it at first, but she gave in when she realized that never stopped the blonde. From what Jack told me, she leaves in the middle of the night the day before and comes back at the break of dawn the day after the 19th. Maybe I'll find out where she goes in the future and maybe the importance of her number.

I liked to think that she wasn't avoiding me today, but I wasn't about to lie to myself. Earlier today, during break, I was walking down the hallway with Kristoff when I saw she was walking in the opposite direction toward me. She had stopped abruptly, and suddenly headed the other way. Because she had her shades on again, so I couldn't tell if her eyes met me before she turned. But I knew that was exactly the case. I really hoped that she would stop avoiding me soon, especially after the fact that we've just achieved talking terms.

And then during Chemistry, she had her blue earphones through the entire lecture. How Mr. Oaken didn't see them was beyond me. She wouldn't even look my way the entire time we were there, and it bothered me. A lot. And when we were dismissed from class, but practically ran out.

It left me wondering what I did to fuck it up this time around. But I honestly couldn't come up with a legit reason. I thought it was because of the ice we found in my locker. It made sense, I mean that's kind of what when it started, but I couldn't connect it to her sudden change of behavior. Unless she was involved in it, but she was with me the entire time, so that ruled it out. Maybe she knew who did it, but I doubted she did. She was still a loner after all.

The sound of Mr. Smith's whistle brought me back to reality. Two students were now in the center about to start the game. A tall girl with short black hair from the opposing team and a tall guy from our team. When the teacher pushed the ball in the air above them, it was the guy from our team who was able to slap it toward his friends on my team thanks to his height.

As soon as that happened, everyone started running toward it. Knowing how it would a little wild, I backed up from them with Steve who was thinking the same thing.

"Basketball games aren't really my thing.", He informed me.

"If that's the case, then how come you were playing with me last week?", I questioned him.

"I just like shooting.", He shrugged. "It gets too rough for me at times and my glasses can't take it."

"But your height makes you perfect for the sport though.", I noted as i suddenly felt small next to him. My head almost reached his shoulders.

He smirked a little at my comment. "I don't fall into that stereotype."

"Rogers! Anderson!", The coach yelled out to us. "Stop standing around and get with the program!"

"Yes sir!", Steve said laughing and I giggled like an idiot when he saluted in respect.

"Don't mock me Rogers.", He warned as he went to yell at other students who were just standing there as well.

I laughed. "Check out the Captain here, being a rebel."

"Calm down Miss Anderson.", He mockingly scolded.

"You know? None of the teachers here call me by my first name.", I said with sudden seriousness as I watched the teacher going around the court. Then I remembered Ms. Connors' friendly face. "Except for the nurse. She actually called me 'Anna'."

"They just do that to make us feel like adults.", He informed me. "Something about tricking us into being more responsible and to keep everything formal and whatnot."

"That makes sense.", I said as I thought about it.

"Yes it does.", He said. "We should probably go before Smith realizes we're still standing here."

"Right.", I agreed. It was only Friday, but I didn't want to make the teacher mad. As I've said before, he could turn P.E. into a living hell. It's wise to stay on the teacher's good side.

The rest of the game was frustrating. Mostly because I got knocked down twice by the same girl and it was on purpose. She practically shoved me by digging her elbow into my chest and it was fucking painful. Someones needs to tell her this is just P.E. and not some championship team. Showing off your skills here is pretty pointless.

We had a couple minutes left when I decided to just stay always from the game. That was when I saw the ball rolling away from everyone and toward the empty side of the gym. I smiled. _Sweet, now I have a chance_. I thought to myself. I ran after the wall as it bounced away. I was about to get it when gloved hands got it first.

I felt nervous all of a sudden as I stared at Elsa directly in front of me holding the ball. I sighed and made a grabbed for it, but she quickly moved it to the side. I made another move for it, but she did the same thing again.

"Come on.", I murmured. I stepped forward and she stepped back.

"Macbeth, no traveling!", Mr. Smith scolded the blonde.

Elsa nodded and began to dribble the ball on the floor in beneath us. Every time the ball hit the floor, it sounded like the clock ticking away somewhere and it was loud as well. But I think that was because I was focus on her that it sounded louder. I reached for it, but she easily side-stepped out of reach to the left. Okay either she's good, or I'm fucking terrible. Probably both

She crouched and was now just below eye level with me. I tried to steal the ball, but it was almost impossible. When I thought I could get it, she would dribble it back between her legs to her ready hand behind her in one swift motion and then back again. Having enough of this, I leap forward. But she was quicker and I ended on the cold floor. And Elsa taunted me by staying only a couple feet from me, instead of running to make a shot like a normal person would. _Oh, that little bitch_, I thought to myself as I pushed myself up.

I ran toward Elsa, but she kept skillfully avoiding me. As this continued on, I saw that she was staring right at me with her rich blue eyes. Her face was blank and all, but I could easily imagine a smug smile on her face. This was fucking frustrating as hell. I really hated the fact that she was just toying with me. But I have admit that she was good though. Really good actually. She should go pro. She would be like the white girl version of Michael Jordan. If that's a thing, that is.

"Macbeth!", The coach called out. I had forgotten that we weren't alone here. "Make a shot or everyone's running all day Monday."

Elsa's concentration never broke from me, but she nodded in acknowledgment. _Oh this was on_. We were on the other side of the court from where she was supposed to shoot and I wasn't about to let her get past me. I mean, she could probably do it and all, but I intended on making it hard for her. Sure, I didn't want to run all day on Monday, but I was too proud to let her do that. I had a feeling that Mr. Smith knew this.

"Get out of my way, Anna.", She softly said, not at all out of breath like me. She tried to move, but I got in her way again.

"No way that's happening.", I panted as I blocked her from getting past me. I smiled at her annoyed face. "That's right."

She shrugged boringly. "Fine."

Instead of making a run around me, like I predicted, she ran back in the other direction. I stood there dumbstruck as she placed the ball on one hand. She studied her basket on the other side of of the court where she was supposed to shoot. I think I saw her smirk a bit, but it might have been my imagination because I didn't have time to process it.

I finally saw that she was planning on shooting it from there with one hand. I smirked. "That's impossible."

"I beg to differ.", She murmured quietly without looking. I decided to just stand there and let her do her thing. There really was no way she could make that shot from far away.

With a look of determination, she pulled her arm left arm behind her with ball in hand. It reminded me of a catapult. I was beginning to think she actually had a chance. She was crazy strong, so maybe it was possible for the ball to make it across the court. And she was really smart as well, smart enough to calculate how much force she should put into it. That's all there was to it. She took a deep breath and swung her arm forward.

I watched as the ball flew high in the air. It went spinning around as it headed to the other side of the court. I saw more as a football being thrown than a basketball. My eyes widen when I saw it made it to its target. The ball went in perfectly through the ring and down the net. _No fucking way!_

It was then that I became aware of everyone who was in here with us. Every watched with wide eyes as the ball rolled silently through the gym floor. Mr. Smith shook the shock out of his head and slowly made his way over to the rolling ball and stopped it with one foot. He bent down and picked it up as he eyed the ball with an expression I couldn't read. He then turned to everyone. "Dismissed."

Slowly everyone cleared out. Everyone murmuring among themselves and giving Elsa side looks. The blonde seemed unfazed by this, as if used it, and knowing her, probably was. Steve met my eyes and gave a thumbs up before leaving with the rest. Soon it was just me, her, and the teacher. I stayed, mostly because I wasn't able to move. It was like there was a spell holding me here.

"Macbeth?", He called her as he walked toward her. "Have you reconsidered my offer?"

"I'm not interested.", She said as she stared at the ground. She wasn't showing it, but I knew the reason she wasn't able to look at him in the eye. It was guilt. And that killed me a little. It really bothered me to see her upset at things.

"Should you ever change your mind, there's always a spot for you.", He said very sincerely, I didn't even know that the loud gym teacher was capable of it. "Keep the ball."

She nodded slowly and took the ball in her gloved hands.

"You have the skills Macbeth, think about it.", Mr. Smith said. He didn't expect Elsa to say anything more, so he left without another word.

She started making her way slowly out of the gym and I followed. I couldn't help, but notice the way she clutch the ball in her hands.

"I knew you were good, but I didn't know you were that great.", I told her as we passed the exit door.

She shrugged. "I'm okay."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever you say."

She said nothing on the rest of the way to our lockers. I noticed Elsa looking at me locker before turning her attention back to her own.

I was supposed to get a new locker because of the whole ice thing, but I didn't want to leave this one. I liked where it was located, plus, it the ice didn't leave any damage to it. It just left a giant puddle of water afterwards. So they didn't force me to leave. They had to call my mom over again though and Alice made fun of me about how much trouble I was causing. Thankfully, my mom wasn't worried. I hated when she worried about me. The school had replaced my forest green P.E. shirt and black shorts, but I had to replace my tennis shoes and charger. Again, I was glad I didn't have anything too expensive in there.

I put in the combination and opened my now completely dry locker to see my clothes rolled into the ball I left it in.

"Can I ask you something?", I asked Elsa as I took out my normal clothes. She turned to me and nodded.

"Why don't you want to play basketball?", I asked as I took off my T-shirt, leaving me in my tanktop. I began to slip on my white blouse.

"It's not fair to the others.", She answered after a while.

I thought about her answer and the way she played during class. "Well, I think it's unfair that you're keeping your talents hidden from everyone.", I told her.

"I'm just here to get my high school diploma, not play basketball.", She said indifferently. I noticed that she didn't take long to answer this time around. She had probably told the same thing to Mr. Smith.

A new question came to me. "If you're just here to graduate, then why do you tutor?", It didn't really make sense.

"I'm behind on some credits.", She said monotonically as she took out her normal clothes out of her locker. Her jeans and shirt were neatly folded together. She placed her basketball insider of her locker and closed it. "I'll see you Monday.", With that, she turned and headed out to the end of the roll of lockers.

I was dumbstruck for about a minute or two before I figured out what she indirectly implied. She was only helping me out because she had to, not because she wanted to out of the kindness of her heart. It was really fucked up if you think about it, but I wasn't about to let that get to me. It was pretty common anyway. And I was sure there were other ways for Elsa to catch up on credits, and she had chosen this one. It was interesting how she was a bit behind, but I guess that's kind of what happens when you move schools.

I quickly changed out of my P.E. shorts and into my jeans. I didn't head out until I was sure my locker was completely locked. By now, I knew that Elsa could somehow open it. And whoever froze my locker. Knowing someone else could break in made me me a bit uneasy about the security of this school, but I shrugged it off. I was good just so long as I didn't keep anything embarrassing in there.

Suddenly Elsa's locker opened and the ball rolled out. I was startled by it, but I quickly recovered from it. It looked to me like Elsa didn't close it right. I went over and picked up the ball. It's temperature was strange. It was as if someone had it in the refrigerator or something. But how could it be cold? It was only in Elsa's hands. Unless her locker was frozen like mine was. Without thinking or caring about that fact that Elsa would be back soon, I opened Elsa's locker to find it empty. It was normal. I shook my head and placed the ball back where it was. The locker room better not be haunted. It gave me the creeps, but I ignored it and left the scene. _What a strange school I go to_.

When I got out, I pulled out my phone from my backpack. I saw that I had a text from Alice. She was complaining about me taking forever. I sighed. _Sisters these days_. There was another text there as well. It was from an unknown number, but then I remembered that it was Hans. I should add his name to the contacts soon. I opened the message.

_Ready for our date later?_

I smiled and replied.

_You know it :)_

I looked out at the clear sky, and smiled. Just the thought of Hans made me forget about the blonde, the fact that the locker room might be haunted, and all of my worries. Instead I saw only the great things in my life. I had a loving family who I wouldn't trade for the world. I had awesome friends who made my rather shitty day, I couldn't ask for better ones I tried. And now I had a date with a cute guy. What could possibly go wrong with that?

* * *

**A/N: ****101 follows and 59 favs?! Holy shit! I seriously didn't think it would get this many. Thank you so much! :)**


	13. Chapter 13

_"You sweet moonbeam, that smell of you in every single dream I dream._

_I knew when we collided, you're the one I have decided who's one of my kind."_

_Hey Soul Sister -Train_

* * *

"He's here!", I squealed happily jumping from the couch. My mom was sitting on the armchair in front of me editing a presentation from work on her laptop. "Come on Mom!", I took her computer and closed it. She shook her head chuckling, but made no move to stop me.

"Honey, I know where the door is.", She mentioned, but didn't it stop me from taking her hand and dragging her to the door. I was pumping with excitement for her to finally meet Hans. I bet they would really hit it off nicely, I mean, how can you _not_ like Hans?

I opened the door to reveal him standing handsomely at my doorstep. He was dressed in a white dress shirt and black slacks, making him appear like a junior professor. His auburn hair was neatly combed back and out of his gorgeous face. He smiled with his bright white teeth and offered me a single red rose. I smiled at the romantic gesture with my stomach flattering intently. I felt a little light headed, but it was nothing to be concerned about with my pounding heart keeping me standing.

"Hi Hans!", I greeted him with enthusiasm.

"Hey Anna.", He said sweetly, his gorgeous green eyes never leaving my face.

"Mom, may I present you Hans West.", I finally introduced her to him.. "And Hans, this is my brilliant mother, the woman who's put up with me my entire life."

"Nice to meet you Mr. West.", Mom said in a serious tone, all the traces of playfulness she had seconds ago was no where to be seen. I sighed internally. I can't really say I didn't this coming. When I had told her of my date, she made it perfectly clear she didn't approve, but she trusted my judgment. It really warmed my heart when she told me that, there's no other feeling like it. But she did want to see him beforehand though, not that it mattered anyway. I would have introduced her to Hans, regardless of whether or not she wanted to meet him.

"Lovely to meet you as well Mrs. Anderson.", He said, grinning widely at her. "I-"

"That's _Ms._ Anderson Mr. West.", She corrected him sternly.

Hans looked shaken back, but quickly got a hold of himself. "My apologies, I wasn't aware."

"Interesting.", She murmured disapprovingly with crossed arms.

"Mom.", I nudged her side with my elbow, but she didn't bother with me. Her hard expression was dead set on Hans. I felt a little guilty that she was staring at him like he was prey.

If this was bothering Hans one bit, he sure was doing a darn good job at hiding it. He seemed determined to get on my mother's good side and I really appreciated the fact that he was trying. "I must say, I can see where Anna gets her good looks from Ms. Anderson."

I chuckled with a blushing face at his compliment. Mom, however, was another story. "Flattery will get you nowhere in life and certainly not with me.", She stated bluntly. I fought the urge to facepalm myself. This was getting to new levels of awkwardness and so me, that's really something.

"Right.", Hans said with a hint of defeat in his voice, but the determined glint in his eye was still there.

I was about to speak, but my mother beat me to it. "So you're taking my girl out.", She finally addressed the elephant in the room, or should I say doorway.

"Yes Ma'am.", Hans said, standing straight with a proud face. I found that amusing.

"Just what are your plans for the evening, if I may ask.", Mom said sincerely, but there was still authority in her voice. Making it clear that he better answer correctly, or this whole thing was off.

"We're just having dinner at this great restaurant downtown.", Hans answered with confidence. His soft eyes met mine. "And I bet Anna will absolutely love it."

I giggled, but stopped in order to make things easier for my mom.

"So it's just dinner then.", She asked for clarification.

"Yes Ma'am.", He nodded.

A tense silence fell over us as my mother studied him for what felt like the longest time, looking for any sign that he might not be good for me. I knew she was worried for me, but I wish she would loosen up a bit. A surge of guilt knotted in my stomach as soon as that thought crossed my mind. Here I was complaining that my mother cared too much for my well being, when there's children out there whose parents don't give a rat's ass about them. Just like the man who chose to walk out of my life thirteen years ago. I stared at my mother's slightly pained expression. I wondered if that was the reason behind her skepticism on Hans when he was clearly the best.

I could practically see the conflict in her, but she let out a sigh of defeat. "Very well then.", She gave my shoulder a gent squeeze and let go. "I want you to enjoy yourself, alright Sweetheart."

I smiled and gave her quick hug, which she gladly accepted. "I promise I'll be fine.", I said to reassure her and it worked. Her shoulders relaxed and gave me an a curt nod with warm hazel eyes. "Thanks Mom."

"Thank you so much Ms. Anderson.", Hans said kindly.

My mother quickly shot him a sharp gaze. I tried not to laugh when he flinch a bit, but a giggle escaped me anyway. "Mr. West, I expect _my_ daughter by nine thirty.", She said firmly. Was it just me, or did she say 'my' a bit louder?

"On my honor.", Hans said like the gentleman he was.

"Not a second later.", She emphasized, almost threateningly, not at all impressed by him. I shrugged lightly, she didn't like him now, but she'll warm up to him.

"Okay Mom.", I directed her attention at me, her eyes soften immediately. "I'll see you in about an hour and a half, okay?"

"Yes I will.", She said with certainty and confidence in her voice.

* * *

Hans was driving us in his black car under the darkening evening sky. The windows were rolled down a bit, allowing the cool air to invade the car. I loved how it felt against my warm skin, it was one of the simple pleasures of life that I adored. It distracted me from the fact that Hans was sitting on the drivers seat next to me and that was a good thing. The soothing air allowed me to breath better and the nervousness slowly left my body. I became more confident that I wouldn't screw things up with Hans. The wind flowed through gently through my strawberry blonde hair. It worked in my favor because not only did it not mess it up, but it also gave it a little more volume.

"Thanks for agreeing to go out with me Anna.", Hans said with a brilliant smile. He really knew how to flatter a girl didn't he? "To be honest, I'm surprised you said yes."

I chuckled at what he said. "To be honest with you, I'm surprise I got ask out at all, let alone by someone as gorgeous of you."

"So you think I'm gorgeous?", He teased playfully.

"Huh?", I questioned and retracted to what I had said beforehand. My eyes widen as heat went up my face. "That...um I uh-", I cleared my throat to get a straight sentence out. "I forgot to turn my word filter on."

"No harm done.", He chuckled and watched me from the corner of his eye. "And for the record, I also think you're very beautiful Anna."

I think my blush deepened even more. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me Anna.", Hans said as the car slowed down. "And here we are.", He pulled the car into the parking lot. There weren't many cars around, so finding a great parking spot close to the entrance was fairly easy.

Looking at where we were going to have dinner, I was impressed by the place. It's breathtaking sight showed that the architect put a lot of effort into designing the area. There were rose bushes of different colors surrounding the place and forest green ivy climbing up the walls. It gave it a classic look to it, but it was not as amazing as the actual small, yet elegant the white building itself was. It was almost like a miniature castle. It had a decent size tower in the center, with aligning smaller ones on either side of it in perfect symmetry. It kind of had a Norwegian feel to it.

I suddenly became conscious of my appearance when we walked through the glass doors and caught my reflection against it. Since I had no idea where Hans was taking me exactly, I decided to just go with a simple black dress since you can pretty much wear it anywhere. The thin straps had a bit of glitter on them, but you couldn't really see it as it was covered by my blazer and hair. It reached just above my knees. I was worried about the scabs from when I hurt myself in P.E. showing, but my bandages covered them up nicely. I wore some eye makeup to make my teal eyes stand out, but that was it as far as my cosmetics went, unless chapstick counted. I had curled my hair, but only on its ends. Hopefully it won't look like I'm trying too hard because I wasn't.

The inside was just as beautiful as the outside. All the table clothed rounded tables were in a circular like layout on the floor, leaving a huge space opened in the middle. At the end, there was a small stage that was only about a foot up from the ground floor. There stood a pitch black grand piano. No doubt in mind that it was new as it sparkled where the light beams hit it.

There were paintings all around the place with details of pleasant scenery and important world landmarks. They ranged from man-built architectural wonders to mother nature's own creations. There were also vases containing beautiful white roses that nicely complimented the baby blue walls.

The scenery of it made me feel as if I was meeting the Queen or something. I was totally not in my element, especially considering how I never went anywhere expensive growing up. Hans gave my hand a gentle squeeze and brought me back to reality. He gave me a reassuring smile and I nodded.

When we were escorted to our table towards the back, Hans pulled out my chair for me. "Thank you.", I said as I took off my blazer and set it on chair.

"Anything for you.", His soft voice said.

Once we were both seated, a waiter quickly came to our table. He was a clean shaven man in his late thirties. He had menus in one arm and a small black notebook in the other along with a pen.

"May I get you two some drinks?", He asked politely.

"That'll be nice.", Hans stated with a smirk on his face. "I'll have lemonade."

"Very good sir.", The waiter murmured as he wrote it down on his notebook. "And for the lady? water perhaps?", He suggested.

"Can I get soda instead?", I asked, hoping I didn't sound like a total fool. What if they didn't mean have soda? My eyes widen when that thought hit my mind, I think I just made a food of myself. And we just got here. Way to go Anna.

"Of course.", He said politely and I let go of the breath I didn't realize I was holding in. Guess I'm still in this. "Which would you prefer?"

"Um...", I trailed off as I thought about it. I smiled when I thought of my favorite drink. "I want some Dr. Pepper with ice, please."

He answered by nodding and gave us a curt smile. "I'll be right back.", He placed the menus for us to get on the table and quickly left to attend another couple that had just arrive here as well.

I turned to Hans and took a breath of relieve. "For a second there I honestly thought they didn't serve soda."

"That's a crime right there.", He chuckled. "And so is going out and ordering water.", His face playfully frowned at that.

"Right!", I agreed. "But my mom's always saying how soda's horrible for you and all."

"Well, it kind of is.", He shrugged as he looked to the side. "But only if you drink it regularly."

"If that's the case, then I'm all good.", I smiled happily.

"Yes you are.", He chuckled and picked up his menu. "Order anything you like.", He added while gesturing to my own.

I nodded and opened mine. After going through the list of things I didn't even know existed, I picked spaghetti and meatballs. It was actually one of my favorite foods ever and I haven't had it in a while now. Plus it was one of the few things I was actually familiar with in this place. It was a good thing that I had nearly mastered the art of not making a mess on my face. That would have been too embarrassing.

Hans went some pink salmon that also looked delicious and the smell was intoxicating. I decided in my head that I would get some of that if I ever got the chance.

"So tell me about yourself Anna.", He said after he took a sip of his drink.

"Like what?", I wiped my lips with my napkin. Damn that sauce was delicious .

"Well for starters, how about favorite color?", He suggested.

"Hm...", I looked up as I thought about which color I liked best. "I don't have a for sure answer to that since it's always changing. Last year it was red and the year before that, it was purple."

"And his year?", His eyes met mine and my stomach turned at the slight.

"Green.", I answered in a trance like state. "Green is my new favorite color this year."

"Green is the color of life.", Hans agreed. "Just like you."

I chuckled, blushing like mad. "Oh you."

"I mean it.", Hans said sincerely.

My breath hitched at that. I didn't know which was better. The words he said or the way he said those words. I cleared my throat to make sure I was still able to talk. "W- what's your?", I redirected the attention to him.

"I like blue at the moment.", He answered quickly. "It's one of the nicest one out there."

I nodded. "So uh...", I didn't know what to ask him. I guess I should ask for the basic information, that's a start. "Family members?"

"A little more than I'd like to admit.", He sighed as he stared up at the ceiling with a scowl. Pinked dusted his cheeks.

"What do you mean?", I asked. I didn't see how someone would get embarrassed by their family size. I once knew a guy who had eight other siblings, but he was pretty happy and proud of it, always boasting about how he was never lonely.

"As in I have twelve older bothers.", He said without looking at me, the pink in his cheeks darkened to a red glow.

"What?!", I said in disbelief.

"Yeah.", He said awkwardly. "That about sums it up, don't it?"

"I guess.", I shrugged. I imagined a portrait with a mother, a father and thirteen boys. "How did your mom handle all that though?", I remembered how they showed us a birth video in school once and it may or may not have freaked me out a bit. I shuddered a bit and subconsciously pressed my legs against each other. One time sounded and looked painful, but _thirteen_, man that's one brave lady.

"She didn't.", He answered, while biting his lower lip, his eyes not meeting mine.

"Huh?", I was confused.

"What I mean is that we're all half bothers.", He explained, in a bitter tone. "My father has divorced and remarried at least four times by now."

"That's complicated.", I commented. And here I thought my own household was a bit odd.

"Tell me about it.", He drank from his lemonade. "And the old man met this lady about six mouths ago, so he's due for another wife pretty soon."

"You can't say he's not trying to find happiness though.", I offered with a sigh. "And the new lady, do you like her?"

"Let's see.", His eyes trained themselves on the table as he propped his elbows on the table with his head resting on his hands. "She's old enough to be my big sister, but she's a real sweetheart.", He leaned back against his chair. "But for all I know, she's could just be another gold digger.", He shrugged. "To answer your question, I like her, but I'm keeping my guard up."

"I can see why you don't trust her.", I said nodding. "But at least you still have your brothers. What are they like?", I was becoming more interested in Hans' family by the second.

"Each one of them is a huge pain in my ass, I got used to it, but it still stings.", His hand turned into a right ball on the table. "They all call me the bastard child because I'm the youngest.", He paused and stared off into space for a second, and shook his head in sadness. "It's hard to be around them most of the time. They rub it in my face that I have no full blooded siblings because I'm the only one my mother gave birth to. Always telling me how alone I am."

I felt my heart break a little at what he was telling me, but it was quickly filled with anger. Seriously though, I felt like going over to his house and doing something about it. "No offense Hans, your brothers are fucking assholes."

"They are.", He simply said. He smiled, but I knew that it was forced. "Anyhow.", He said loudly, making clear he no longer wanted to talk about himself and I didn't blame him. "What's your family like?"

An image of my mom and sister popped into my head. "Well for me, it's just me, my mom, my younger sister who's two years younger.", I answered. "Very small compared to yours."

"Anna.", He said with a serious tone. "Excuse me for asking this, you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but may I ask what happened to your father?", He said in a gentle voice, as if afraid, I would get offended or upset.

"Oh that.", I sighed deeply at that. "He used to be a part of my family, but when I was four, he uh-", I cleared my throat from the lump that was forming. "He just disappeared and I never knew why.", I said quietly. I wish that I could talk about him like any other topic, but I just couldn't. I'm usually an open book, but anything concerning the man I used to call dad just isn't my topic. Maybe someday, but definitively not today.

I half-expected Hans to press for details on him, but I think he got the silent hints I threw at him, so he just accepted it and nodded. "And your mom never remarried?"

"No, being a single mother with two small kids and working full time was very time consuming.", I answered as I stared at my glass. "She devoted all her time to make sure my sister and I were never short on anything we needed and always made sure to love us enough for two people.", Memories of my mother showing her love for my sister and I flashed before my eyes. I smiled at the memories.

"I must say Anna, I'm completely jealous of how much she adores you. I saw it in the way she looked at you when I came to pick you up.", Hans said as he stared at my face warmly. "My dad barely even remembers my name."

"Oh come on now, can't be that bad.", I twisted the noodles with my fork and popped it into my mouth.

"It's true, I try to impress the man to get his attention, but everything I do, my brothers have done it already. Better even." He argued sadly. "It's really hard to stand out from the rest. I'm just a part of the group."

"Don't worry, there's still hope.", I reassured him after I had swallowed. "Besides, there are many perks to being invisible.", I said, trying to cheer him up a bit. "Like for one thing, you get to get away with anything and everything."

"I suppose.", Hans shrugged as he rested his head on his hand. His eyes suddenly turned to me, specifically my mouth. "You got a little...", He pointed the right corner of his mouth.

"Oops.", I quickly wiped my left side to mirror his demonstration. "Better?"

"Hm...no.", He answered. "Allow me.", He picked up his own napkin and slowly reached across the table. He gently ran the cloth over the right side of my mouth. Time seemed to go painfully slowly as he did that. My skin felt hot over this simple gesture, probably the result of the pounding heart in the chest. Just when I thought I was going to pass out, he was done. "There.", He smiled warmly and was back in his seat.

"Thank you.", I said with a hot face.

"The pleasure was mine.", He winked and returned his attention to his food.

I blushed furiously at this and decided to drink my cold beverage, hoping it would help with my red face.

A soft piano noise caught my attention. I turned my head to see a young man in a tuxedo playing the piano I had seen when I had first come in. He had his soft jet black hair pushed back, his eyes fixed on the sheet music. It was as if his hands had a mind of their own as they moved effortlessly across the keys. I noticed couples standing up and heading to the center of the empty space to dance.

"May I have this dance?", I was so caught up in watching the pianist, I didn't even notice Hans getting up. He was now standing in front of me, holding his hand out for me.

"I can't dance.", I informed him, trying to be casual about it despite my sudden nervousness.

"Come one Anna, don't be so shy.", He pleaded with warm eyes.

"Let me reprise that. I _can't_ dance", I cleared my throat. "As in I don't know how to dance."

"Oh.", He said in realization, but then smiled. "It's never too late to learn and I happen to be a great teacher."

"Um I don't know...", I trailed off. It wasn't that I didn't want to learn or that I was shy or anything like that. I just didn't want to make a fool of myself in front of him. And with how trouble prone I've been lately, it wouldn't be such a great idea.

"Come on Anna.", He pleaded more urgently. "It'll be fun."

I stared at his hand and sighed in defeat. Might as will let him know what a klutz I am and get it over with. "Alright."

"Great!", He said excitedly and I took his warm hand. "I promise you won't regret it."

"Right.", I said sarcastically.

He simply chuckled and we made our way to the dance floor. "Put your right hand on my shoulder."

_Don't mind if I do_, I thought to myself. I did as he instructed and he took my other hand, holding it above his own.

"I'm going to put my left hand on your back, just below your shoulder. That alright?", He asked and I nodded. "Now, I'm moving back and you're moving forward, got it?"

"Sounds simple enough.", I said casually.

"That's the spirit.", He said encouragingly and I smiled.

As we went along, I discovered I was right when I said it _sounded_ simple. It really wasn't. Unfortunately for Hans, that is. I stepped on his feet so many times, it was sure to leave bruises. Good thing it was just the beginning of the weekend, it will give him time to heal and he won't have to walk funny to school. Through it all, he never once complained. He was a trooper, that was for sure. But I could tell I was hurting him though. His eyes and the thin line that was his mouth showed it.

"I'm sorry.", I apologized for the millionth time already.

He chuckled. "Don't worry about, it's fine."

He winced when I got him with the sole of my heel yet again. "I'm terrible, aren't I?"

"Yeah.", He choked out bluntly as he seemed to have lost his breath. "But you can only get better."

"That's a depressing way of looking at it.", I looked down to make sure I didn't get him again.

"I like to think of it as an optimistic way of looking at it.", He countered. "Besides, it's only your first time."

My heart swelled a little at his kind words. "Thank you."

"Anytime.", He said and as if on cue, it ended. I chuckled when I saw him smiling gratefully at that. We all turned to the piano player and clapped loudly as he bowed. His face was a bit flushed, probably due to both the playing and the attention. An old lady threw him a blood red rose, which he caught in midair and waved it at her with a huge smile.

We headed back to our table soon after. Hans walked as if he was stepping on nails.

"It really wasn't my intention.", I mumbled quietly.

"I know.", He grinned at me as we sat at our table again.

I smiled. "You're a very understanding."

His eye lit up with his smile. "I try."

I looked up when I saw the lights beginning to dim. It was soon dark all around us, except for the stage for the pianist had taken his seat again. Though it was dark, I was still able to see Hans' face across the table in front of me.

"There's another performance coming up.", He whispered loud enough for me to hear. "It's the main one I believe."

I nodded and turned my attention back to the stage as I heard footsteps coming up. I felt my blood run cold when I saw who the next performer was. She walked gracefully up the stage as if she owned the place. For a moment I doubted that was even her, no way it was her. But there was no mistaking that platinum blonde hair and those rich blue eyes.

Elsa was in a pitch black strapless gown with long sleeves that trailed behind her. It made her pale skin appear even whiter than usual. Her blonde hair was neatly curled, those platinum locks cascading down her shoulders perfectly. For the first time since I've seen her, black ends of her hair seemed natural. On her neck was a sliver necklace in the shape of a snowflake shining brightly against the light that hit it.

My eyes widen when they trailed down to her chest. That 19 was nowhere to be found. For the first time, I saw that she was without her number. As much as I liked that little detail, it was still strange to see her without it. Maybe she just wasn't allowed to have it here, but I doubted the people in charge would mind enough to refuse her wearing it. Why would she remove it though?

In her right hand she was carrying a great black cello and a matching bow in the other hand. She glided to the stool and gracefully took a seat. Her hands were bare, no longer hiding behind her gloves. It was a strange sight. The last time I had seen her without them was when she beat the crap out of Abby. She gently placed the cello between her legs as if it was her greatest treasure. Her blue eyes shoot out against the dark make-up surrounding them, and they are sad. That was the only way to describe it. She placed her right fingers on the top end of the strings while the other hand made motions with the bow to hit the strings, but never did.

The lights dimmed even more to the point where it was pitch black and I could no longer around me. The pianist slowly began pressing down on the keys softly. The harmonic sound echoing against the dead quiet room. It was slow and but I recognized the tune. I couldn't place a name on it though. It was like some sort of church music or like something you would play at a funeral. I had the name on the tip of my tongue, but I just couldn't get it out.

Then Elsa brought the bow down to the strings, perfectly sinking in tune. Never too rough, never too slow, never too fast. It brought even more life to the soft music playing. I marveled at the way she effortlessly and perfectly moved her fingers on the strings from above and flawlessly guiding the bow against the strings on the bottom part.

About halfway through, my eyes moved from the instrument, to Elsa herself. She was facing down, but not looking at her instrument, but at the floor. I couldn't see her face clearly, so I twas hard to guess what she might be thinking. The tune got sadder and even more beautiful as she went along.

The piano was now just a background noise for Elsa, whose music was the main focus. The music began to sadden me, but in a good way. In a way that made me appreciate life even more. My mind wandered off to figure out what the name of the piece they were playing was called. I closed my eyes and tried to figure it out.

_Ave Maria!_ That's it. That's the name. Once I registered it was Ave Maria, I began to hear that the lyrics in my mind's ear. Before I knew it, it was over. _Too soon_, I thought to myself. My attention snapped from the blonde to everyone around me. The lights were turned back on and everyone was standing. They were all applauding and giving Elsa undivided attention and praise. She really had an affect on people. I saw a couple of people wiping their eyes.

I wanted Elsa to smile at the crowd, but she didn't. And that was to be expected of her, unfortunately. She was as stoic as always, never showing much emotion. Not wanting attention, she turned to the pianist who was a couple steps behind her and made him stand next to her. I saw her whisper something into his ear. The guy's face morphed into a surprise one, but nodded anyway. Elsa waved to the crowd once and began to retreat to the exit on the back of the stage.

"She's really something else huh?", Hans' voice brought me back to reality.

"Yeah.", I breathed when I had gathered my thoughts. "I didn't know she played here."

"Neither did I.", He stated with arms crossed. "They usually hire professionals here, but I can see why they had her come on."

"I wonder where she learned to play like that.", I thought out loud. "She was doing it just like a pro."

"Probably from her personal tutors.", He shrugged as she took a sip of his drink.

"Tutors?", I questioned.

"Oh, you didn't know.", He said with clear surprise on his face. "Elsa was homeschooled her whole life before coming to Arendelle."

"Really.", I said mostly to myself. "Why doesn't that surprise me."

"Because her lack of social skills are practically screaming it.", He chuckled as he glanced at his watch. "Um Anna we should probably go to get you home on time."

"Time flies.", I murmured. "Alright, but I need to use the restroom first.", I really shouldn't have drank three glasses of soda.

He nodded. "You do that, and I'll pay and wait for you at the entrance."

"Sounds like a plan.", I said smiling.

"It's a great plan.", Hans boasted as I walked away.

The restrooms weren't too far from the table since we were already in the back of the restaurant. At first, I feared that there might be a line, but I saw a group of women coming out. That meant there were stalls inside and also no waiting.

When I walked through the white and blue door, the first thing I saw was platinum hair being tied up in a pony tail. She was too preoccupied with her hair to notice me standing in the doorway like a total idiot. I noticed that she was still in the black dress and there was a bag to her feet, probably containing spare clothes. I wasn't sure whether to speak or stay quiet, but I didn't want to look stupid, so I went with the former.

"Elsa?", I called for her attention. She suddenly stopped fixing her hair and turned to face him. She stared at me with wide eyes as if she was being caught in the act of doing something she shouldn't.

She gulped before speaking. "Anna?", She eyed me with her brilliant blue eyes. "How long-", She cleared her throat to ease her nervousness. "How long have you been here?"

"At the restaurant or the bathroom?", I asked slightly confused by her question.

"The restaurant.", She answered quickly. I saw her biting her lower lip a bit, a sign of nervousness. This was the first time I had ever seen this side of her. I wanted to smile in victory for seeing a significant amount of emotion out of her, but that would upset her, and that's the last thing I wanted.

"Long enough to see your performance.", I couldn't help the smirk that escaped my lips, despite how hard I tried to control it.

"Of course.", She murmured while shaking her head disapprovingly.

"I didn't know you played.", I tried to make small talk. "You're really good, you know. How long have you been playing?"

"About six years now.", She answered as she stared at her reflection in the mirror adjacent to us. "Um Anna, why are you here? At the restaurant I mean."

"I'm kind of on date.", I told her. "And we were actually just leaving since I have a curfew."

Elsa nodded slowly. "Anna, can you do something for me?"

_What!_ I screamed on the inside of my head. "Alright who are you and what have you done with Elsa?"

For a fraction of a second her eyes widen with guilt, but it was gone before I could make anything of it. "Is it a no, then?", Her voice sounded weak.

Seeing how she had no sense of humor, I decided to take this seriously,"Depends on what is it, but yeah, sure."

"Can you keep this encounter and my performance to yourself?", She asked cautiously, not meeting my eyes. I could tell she wasn't the type to ask for help, and if I had to guess, it was killing her inside.

I wondered for a couple seconds why she was asking for that. "Your parents don't want you playing, is that it?", I asked

Her eyes became felt with sadness as they drifted up to look at her own face against the mirror. It was as if she might burst into tears any second now, but I knew she wouldn't. "No, it's not that. I just don't want them knowing."

"Why not?", I asked her, half afraid she would ignored me.

"Because I'm selfish.", She murmured after a minute of silence. She sighed in defeat, finally taking her eyes off the mirror. "It's the only thing that's truly mine and I want to keep it that way for a little longer."

I wasn't sure what she meant exactly, but I accepted it anyway. That fact that she answered me at all was a miracle itself, so it was best to not push my luck. "Okay Elsa, this will be our little secret okay."

"Thank you Anna, I-", She was interrupted by the sound of a phone. _Ding_. I was about to take mine out, but it turned out that it was Elsa's. It soon began ringing loudly, the sound echoing against the walls.

Elsa shot me a very quick apologetic look as she reached into the bag on the floor to retreat her phone. Her blue eyes widen in both horror and surprise as she stared at the screen. It continued to ring as she continued stare at it intently, her hand shaking a bit.

"Elsa?", I called to her, but I didn't think she was really here at all. She was frozen in place, hands nearly crushing her phone.

I took steps to her and that was when she finally snapped out of it. Her face was confused for a fraction of a second, before a black look overcame her. "I gotta take this.", Her tone was different, more monotonic.

Without sparing me a second glance, she gathered her things and was out before I had the chance to process what was happening before my eyes.

"That happened.", I murmured as I stared at the door from which she had just left. It was then that I finally realized how cold it had become, but I was too focused at the chain of events that had just taken place to put any serious thought into it.

* * *

Hans parked in front of my house. "Yes! We made it!"

"Yes we did.", I said, somewhat distracted. I smiled weakly when I checked the time. "And with three minutes to spare."

"Uh huh.", He agreed as he removed his seat-belt. "Walk you to your door?", He asked with hope in his eyes.

"That would be nice.", I said nodding and he beamed at me.

Once we were both out, I shivered at the sudden cold air. I knew that the temperature drops at night, but this was ridiculous. The cold felt very familiar though, it deeply reminded me of the broken AC at school. It was actually the same temperature, minus the actual cold wind running around.

My mind snapped back to reality from this, when I felt Hans' hand on mine. His hand was very warm. I prayed silently that he wouldn't feel how sweaty mine were slowly becoming. If he did, and he most likely did, he gave no clue of it, thankfully.

"I really like you Anna.", He said once we were standing together on the porch to the entrance of my house. "I really like you a lot."

"I feel the same way.", I told him. It was true. He was so easy going, even though his gorgeous face made my stomach uneasy, but not in a bad way. It was more of a don't screw up kind of way.

His hand slowly let go of my own, giving them some air. Both his hands trailed up my bare arms. It send of jolt of electricity that made my heartbeat go up. _Shit!_ I thought to myself. His long fingers wrapped easily and perfectly around my shoulders. "You're very beautiful.", He murmured as his face got closer to mine. I expected him to kiss me, but I was somewhat disappointed when he didn't.

"You keep saying that.", My knees felt very weak, when his forehead was almost touching mine, his green eyes was all I could see. This was slowly starting to become too much for me. Any second now, and I might collapse.

"Only because it's true.", His sweet voice said back. His warm hands moved up and cupped my cheeks gently in them. "I really want to kiss you right Anna.", His hot voice said close to my face.

"What's stopping you?", With a sudden bolt of confidence, I wrapped my arms pleasantly around his neck. His green eyes, which had now become a darker shade, closed. His face slowly leaned forward. For some reason, I got a case of cold feet for about a second. It felt right, but at the same time, it also felt wrong, As if I shouldn't be doing this. _Why though?_

I shrugged internally. Maybe my insecurities just wanted to get the best of me, but I wasn't about to let them. I slowly closed my eyes and leaned in as well. I held my breath in nervous anticipation. It wasn't that I've never kissed anyone, middle school and freshman year was full of hormone driven boys. It was just that it's been a very long time since I've actually done it, so I might be kind of a bad kisser.

Slowly, my nervous lips met his warm ones. And it send my heart rate over the edge by making my already pounding heart beat even faster. It was awkward at first, mostly on my part, but it got better when I finally allowed myself to relax into the kiss.

His hands on my face tiled my head a bit to the side for better access to by mouth. With his mouth opened, I felt his hot breath all over my lips. A second later, I felt his warm and wet tongue on the corner of my mouth, asking for permission. It had also been a while since the tongue thing too, but I was willing to go for it anyway. I was about to open my mouth when someone cleared their throat very loudly.

"Mom!", I jumped back in surprise. She was standing with the door fully opened, glaring at Hans and I, though it was mostly directed at him. We didn't even notice when she had opened the door.

"Ms. Anderson...", He said nervously as he scratched the back of his head.

"Mr. West.", She said through angry gritted teeth. "Please get your hands _off_ my daughter."

"Huh?", I thought out loud. I looked next to me to see his arm was wrapped around my shoulders. _When had that happened?_

"Oh.", He said in realization with wide eyes.

"Now!", My mother practically growled angrily.

"Yes Ma'am!", He jumped and quickly retracted his arms. "Sorry." He apologized, but she wasn't fazed at all. "Um, I'll be going now."

"Yes you will.", She nodded in agreement with fisted hands on her sides, as if daring him to say otherwise.

"Okay, um Mom...", I tried to redirect her attention to me, but her gaze was homed in on Hans.

"Well goodbye Ms. Anderson.", Hans said as he took steps back. "I'll see on Monday Anna.", He nearly tripped on a rock, but made it to his car and for a second, I thought I saw the hint of a smile on Mom's face. A second later, his black car was speeding away from my house. I knew my mom was scary, but I didn't know she was _that_ scary. It was sure was the perfect way to end this date, with him speeding at top speed away from my house.

"Anna, get inside now.", She said as calmly as she could through her frustration. Not wanting to make it any worse, I quickly obliged to my her orders.

It was awkward as I walked inside the quiet house. _Where's Alice's annoying self when I need her?_ I thought to myself as I sat on the couch as my mom locked the door before closing it.

"Am I in trouble?", I asked, even though I already knew the answer to that. She let out a sigh of exhaustion

"No.", She replied softly as she sat next to me. "You're not in trouble Sweetheart."

"Wait what?", I looked up in surprise. "But you were furious just seconds ago?"

"How could I not? He was all over you.", She said as she wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "I swear I was just seconds away from kicking him where it hurts."

"So you're not mad at me?", I really couldn't believe this.

"Anna, I meant it when I said I trusted you.", Mom said gently, but then her eyes harden again. "However, I don't want to see you doing that with anyone _ever_ again, understood?"

"I understand.", I said nodding as I leaned into her embrace.

"Good.", She said in approval. "So tell me, did you have a good time?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I did.", I said happily as I thought back to it. "The food was great and they even booked some amazing musicians."

She opened her mouth to speak, but was stopped when a sudden yawn escaped me. I blushed in embarrassment, but her hazel eyes soften in understanding. "Why don't head in for the night? I have some work to finish anyway."

"No no it's okay.", I protested. "I'm not tired at all."

"Well I am.", She said and got up, bringing me up with her. "Now go get some rest.

I wanted to argue like always, by my bed sounded like a wonderful idea. "Alright, I'm going.", I held my hands up in surrender.

I walked to the stairs in the hallway and headed all the way up to my room. When I opened my door, I groaned when I saw my sister laying on my bed with her stupid game on. "What's the point of having separate rooms if you're gonna be in here the whole time?"

"Nice to see you too.", She shot back as her character choked a guy from behind and finished him off with a knife to his throat. Violent much? "So how was your time with Prince Charming?"

"It was nice.", I told her as I kicked my shoes off and jumped on the bed to lay next to her.

"He didn't try anything funny, did he?", Alice asked with her eyes still fixed on the shooting of the zombies. My mind went to what had happened on the porch.

"Nope.", I lied to her. I really can't say I didn't like it because that would be a lie.

"Right.", She said sarcastically, knowing me full well. "Anything unusual?"

My mind drifted to Elsa playing her cello like the pro that she was. Then to her asking me to keep it a secret and the phone call that practically changed her. It was a mystery. Who could call and get that reaction out of her? I swear, it was as if she had seen a ghost of something.

"Nothing to report.", I lied again while shaking my head.

Despite her character getting shot at, my sister turned her head to me to meet my eyes. The thing about about Alice growing up with me was that she knew almost everything about me, including my habits and behaviors. She knew when I was honest and when I wasn't. She studied my face for half a minute before sighing and returning her attention back to the TV. "Whatever you say sis.", Her voice was a defeated one.

"Thank you.", I said as I laid down next to her, finally getting some rest from this long day.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry, school literally took over my life. Haven't here til recently actually. Also, the emotional roller coaster of graduating next week is finally kicking in. So just be aware that becasue of that and other reasons, the next chapter might be late, but not as extremely as this one. **

**Thank you for still sticking around :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Warning: Not gonna spoil it, but something really BAD ****nearly**** happens towards the end, but does no****t happen. So you can relax when it comes to that.**

* * *

_"We are the vultures, the dirtiest kind._

_We'll cut you once in your heart and your mind."_

_Kill the DJ -Green Day_

* * *

"I think that's everything.", My mother said as she went over the list of things she needed to pack again.

"You sure?", I asked. I was about ready to zip close her bag, but I wanted to sure that was it so I would have to open it again.

"Yeah, that's it.", She confirmed and rolled up the small notepad paper into a ball. "Close that will you? I just need to go get some things from work."

"Sure thing.", I said nodding and turned to my sister. "Little Alice, you know the drill."

Alice sighed irritatingly. "Why do I have to do everything around here."

"Quit your whining and step on it.", I said smirking.

"But you're heavier!", She flung her arms in the air.

"So?", I asked, knowing I was running on thin ice with my sister.

"Fuck you Anna.", My sister said, but got up anyway. "Ready?"

Making sure I had the zipper ready to go, I nodded in her direction. She sigh, but nodded as well. Lately she's been really lazy, so my mom and I have been on her trail about it so it wouldn't get any worse. She jumped in the air and landed on the suitcase. With her weight pushing it down, I was able to zip it, but only half way through.

"Why can't Mom just use a bigger one?", Alice complained. "They're right in her room."

"Because we can make it fit. Duh.", l said rolling my eyes.

She rolled her eyes in response and jumped it again. This time the zipper made it all the way to the end.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?", I teased her.

"Whatever.", She murmured and went back to hitting on the red armchair. She wanted to say something more to me, probably an insult, but I was saved because Mom walked into the living room again.

"Okay, so I have go now.", She announced, she made a reach for her bag, but Alice and I stopped her. We insisted to take for her since it was heavy, but at the very least it had wheels on the side so it was easier to take it to her black car. It was a bit of a struggle, but I was able to place it in the back seat. Unfortunately, I ended up falling down on my butt during the process. And surprised, they laughed. And of course I got red.

"You okay Sweetheart?", Mom asked, half concerned, half amused.

"My pride is shattered, but other than that, I'll live.", I prayed that the blush on my face was now gone, but it probably wasn't.

"Smile.", Alice said suddenly.

"Wait what?", I asked confused. I looked in Alice's direction in time to see a flash from her phone.

"Oh yeah, that one's a keeper.", She said laughing at the screen of her phone. She showed it to me, but I didn't bother to look at it. I knew I wouldn't like it.

"Alright you two.", Mom caught the attention of both of us. "I should be back tomorrow night, if not, then the day after in the morning at the latest."

"Yeah okay.", I said agreeing. "But I'm not so sure if I'll be able to put up with the Little One for that long though.", I said in mock concern and gestured to my sister.

Alice snorted. "You're a riot, you know that?"

My mom just dismissed that completely. "And you have all the phone numbers you need in case you need to contract me."

"It's not the first time we've been alone before.", Alice pointed out.

"So?", She said back and a laughed escaped me. Alice stayed quiet, a faint blush on her cheeks. "Anyway, I'll call you guys up later, so you better pick up."

"On it.", I said. "Look even putting the volume up on my phone.", I almost always had the volume turned down so I never answer. Because of that, everyone says I might as will just have an iPod instead.

"Good.", She said in approval. She held her arms out for a goodbye hug, and we happily went into it. "I'm gonna go now and please don't anything stupid while I'm gone, alright?"

I laughed. "No deal."

"Never in a million years.", My sister said in agreement.

"Not funny.", Mom said a bit sternly, but a bright smile escaped her anyway.

Alice and I watched as she got in the car. Even as I watched on, I still couldn't believe this was really happening. When she informed us of this in the morning, I seriously thought she was lying, but now that's it's nearly eight, here we are.

"Bye Mom!", Alice waved her hand in the air. I followed her lead and did the same.

Once she was out of sight, I gestured for us to go back inside. Alice ran in and jumped onto the couch.

"Let's have some fun Anna!", Her smile was a little too happy in my opinion.

"And what do you recommend?", I asked, playing along.

"We can order some combo pizza and fucking pig out.", She enthusiastically suggested. "Oh! And then we can watch the Texas Chainsaw, you know, the terrible new one they made?"

"I'm not in the mood for blood and gore.", I told her. That stuff was just disgusting.

"How about-"

_Ding!_ She stopped mid sentence at the sound of my phone.

"Already?", She asked. "She just left like three minutes ago."

"Probably just making sure I answer.", I said and pulled out my phone. "Oh wait, never mind. It's just Marshall."

"That weird chick you hang out with?", She asked and I nodded. "What does she want?"

"Like I'll tell you.", I smirked and she huffed in annoyance. I opened the messages.

_Yo Anna! Ready for tonight :D_

"Huh?", I thought out loud. What the hell did she mean by that?

_What do u mean?_

She sure made it sound like I should know. _Ding!_

_D: You forgot!_

I sighed. If I asked, she'll think I'm stupid. If I go along with it, I'll make of total fool of myself later. Better I come clean now.

_What is it?_

Five seconds later, my phone started ringing. _Oh god_, I thought to myself. She decided to instead call me. I hesitated as at the answer icon. I could just ignore her and come on with a lame excuse later on. But she won't believe me at all, and I knew as sure as hell I wouldn't hear the end of it when I see her on Monday. I knew deep down I would regret this. I answered it.

"What is-"

"WHAT THE FUCK ANNA!", Marshall's usually loud voice yelled into my hear.

"Ow!", I dropped my phone and held my ear. Shit! I think she might have done some damage there.

Alice smirked with her arms crossed in approval. "I like her."

"Shut up.", I snapped at her, but she she just giggled in amusement.

I bent down to pick up my device, thankfully it didn't crack. That would have been a nightmare. I held it on my other ear, but with some distance this time around. "What is it?", I didn't bother to hide my annoyance.

"There's a god damn party and you have the nerve to forget.", Marshall said angrily. "How fucking dare you!"

"That's what this is about?!", I nearly yelled back. "Over a stupid party?"

"Well it is our last first senior high school party.", She said more calmly in a matter of fact tone.

"I'm not so sure I want to show.", I answered honestly. I mean, I didn't even bother to remember it in the first place anyway.

"Anna listen up.", From what I could hear, her patience was running low. "If you don't go, you're no fun and you're gonna regret this moment for the rest of your life."

"I don't know Marshall, I'm not really in the mood.", I told her. "Plus my mom's out of town-"

"Even more reason to come!", She interrupted. "It's brilliantly perfect! She won't know a thing and you won't get in trouble."

"Marshall, I just can't get up and leave my sister alone.", I told her. Maybe then she'll understand.

"Bring her along then.", She countered. "Boom, problem solved."

"I don't know...", I trailed off as I thought about it more.

"Come on, just live a little you big square. It's our Senior year!", Marshall complained. "I promise I won't pressure you for a while after this."

I sighed in exhaustion and made my decision. "Where is it gonna be at?"

"YES!", She cheered excitedly. She quickly told me the directions. I actually already knew the way, I highly doubted I would get lost. Marshall offered to come pick me up, but I felt like getting there myself.

"Okay, I'll see you late then.", I told her.

"Fuck yeah you will.", She answered with so much joy in her voice. "I promise you won't regret this."

"Yeah yeah.", I said and finally hung up.

"Tell me you aren't serious.", Alice suddenly spoke out.

I turned to see her glaring face. I had forgotten she was there. "It's just a party Alice."

"Yeah, but you can't just leave!", She said, clearly upset.

"Well come with me then.", I suggested. "Come on it'll be fun."

"No way.", She said stubbornly.

"Fine, then stay here.", I wasn't about to argue with her. I was childish person, but not that childish.

"You can't leave me here all alone.", Alice argued. "Some guy could break in and rape the shit out me."

I scoffed. "You don't even believe that yourself."

"Okay.", She admitted, but the fight was still in her teal eyes. "But it could happen. I mean look me, I'm fucking gorgeous!", She started gesturing to herself with her whole her hands.

I laughed. "Oh yeah, very gorgeous.", I said sarcastically, looking at her up and down in her sweats and T-shirt. I shook my head in more laughter. "One more time, are you coming or not?", I asked once I had calmed down.

She shook her head no.

"Guess I'll see you later then.", I told her, despite the hard glaring look she was giving me. "I'm gonna go get ready."

* * *

The house was way bigger than I anticipated. It was easily three stories high, plus an antic from the looks of it. It was the perfect place though with all its space. It was practically on the edge of town, so it was kind of deserted in the surrounding areas. There also a mini forest behind all the houses.

When I got closer, I could see colorful lights flashing out from the windows. I also felt the vibrations of the music. If I could I already feel them, then it was probably booming loud in there. I wasn't surprised that the neighbors hadn't already called the cops already though. It was highly unlikely that they would spend their Saturday night at home listening to a bunch of partying teenagers. So it was safe to say that it was just us out here. Another reason why this place was perfect. There was no one around. Just us out here.

Despite all the cars that parking were around, it wasn't hard to find a decent parking spot. The area was so spacious. Jason, the guy who's throwing the party, seemed to have thought of everything. Clearly, this was not the first one he's thrown.

Walking over to the house entrance, I came across many beer cans littering the way. Seems like I'm right on time. From far away, I think there was a girl passed out. But when I came closer, I saw that it was just a doll. Heat rushed to my face when I realized it was a sex doll. You don't see that everyday. I shuddered at the thought of someone actually using it. Gross.

At the door, I wasn't so sure if I should knock or just walk in. Knocking seemed ideal, but I doubted anyone would hear me, so I just invited myself in.

The first thing that hit me was not the slight of bodies 'dancing' against each other. Seriously though, those girls could really shake it. And it wasn't the fact that I could barely see at all. It was almost completely pitch black, minus the spinning ball of colorful lights and the disco ball hanging on the ceiling, shining brightly against the lights that hit it. And it also wasn't deafening music around me as well, but it did make me wish I had brought ear plugs or something. In that moment, I realized that going deaf had just become a very real possibility. It was nothing compared to Marshall yelling in my ear earlier.

No, it was the smell, that was what shook me. The air was just horrible. It smelled of sweat and booze. It was as if the air was detached in beer and every other alcoholic beverage known to man. The other thing my nose picked up was weed. Growing up in the city, I knew that smell anywhere without even trying. It reeked of it everywhere. Seeing all this, maybe I should have turned back, but I did kind of promised Marshall I would show up and I wanted to be reliable. Plus there was no harm in sticking about for a while. And Alice was pissed at me for leaving, so I might as well go through with it.

I thought about where they might be. It was hard to tell one person from another in here. I eventually settled for looking for them where the booze was, so I began heading towards the back. That's where the drinks usually are anyway. I expected to find a table with drinks, but I ended up finding a state of the art bar with stools and everything. There were two older looking guys in the serving. Jason must seriously be loaded to pull this off.

The area was really crowded though, there was even a shirtless guy dancing on top, and I didn't really want to deal with that. Luckily, since Jason, the wonderful host, had thought of everything, there were snack tables around the walls that also contained the favorite party drinks. I had the option of either taking a can or having the same thing, but in a cup instead. I chose the can because it was safer in the sense that I knew what I getting. For all I knew, someone tampered with the cups.

I popped it open and brought it to my lips. It was cold, just the way I liked it. It was strange because it's been a very long time since I've drank, so I had to adjust to it again and resist the urge to spit it out. On my third sip, I felt proud for mastering the art of drinking.

"Anna!", I heard my name being screamed through the music. I looked around me, but finding the source was impossible in the state of everything around me.

Suddenly someone tugged at my arm. I looked to find Marshall gleefully pulling me toward her. "You made it!", She screamed through the music loudly and hugged me. I didn't bother fighting her, it was nice to see I wasn't alone here.

Taking a good look at her, I saw that she came in the forest green shirt from school and tattered black jeans that exposed her knees. Her pitch black hair was in a pony tail with her bangs covering nearly the whole side of her face. And of course, without fail, she was in her signature eye liner.

"God damn it.", She said in anger while looking at me.

"What now?", I asked, half annoyed.

"I forgot to tell you to wear your school shirt.", Marshall explained and gestured to my purple plaid shirt. "We could have been fucking twins.", She shook my shoulders to make her point.

"Oh well, nothing we could do about it now.", I shrugged casually.

"Got that right.", She sighed and then her big smile returned. "So tell me, how long ago did you get here?"

"Just got here.", I informed her. "Anyway, where are the other two?"

"They're around.", Marshall said smirking. "And speaking of the others.", She said, looking over my shoulders.

"Hey Anna!", Steve suddenly appeared.

"Hey Captain!", I said looking at his hero shirt. As usual, he was in shorts. I noticed he was panting a bit, probably from dancing, and his messed up shaggy brown hair only further supported this. I wondered how many hands had ran through it.

"So glad you came, Marshall wouldn't stop bitching about you.", He said nudging her.

"Oh no! Steve had to listen to my endless ranting!", Marshall said in mock concern "The horror!", She pretended to choke her neck and stuck her tongue out as a way to make fun of Steve.

"That's nothing.", I told him. "She nearly blew my ear out earlier with her loud ass voice."

Steve laughed, much to Marshall's dismay. So in response, she playfully shoved him. "Hey", He protested when his glasses nearly fell from his face. "Watch it!"

"No way.", She said laughing. "And FYI, not my fault, I told you to get contracts a long time ago."

"Hey, those torture devices irritate me.", Steve reasoned.

"Whatever.", Marshall said, pitching his cheek to his embarrassment. She turned to me. "Let's go play some beer pong!"

I wrinkled my nose at that. "I don't know...", I trailed off, I was sure I would probably suck at it.

"Stop being a pansy and let's go.", She grabbed my arm and started pulling me away. Steve followed close behind.

"Steve, why can't you play with her instead.", I asked him over my shoulder through the noise.

"I'm not allowed to drink tonight.", He said with a somewhat bitter tone.

"Why not?", If Steve's not drinking, I see no reason why he would come at all. Come to think of it, it was surprising that Marshall wasn't giving him hell about it. If worse came to worse, I knew that Marshall wouldn't hesitate to hold him down and force a drink down his throat if it ever came to that.

"Since you guys won't have a clear head later on, I'm supposed to make sure you guys don't do anything stupid." He explained.

"We usually take turns on who has to stay sober at parties, I'm after Steve.", Marshall said looking back. "We've been doing this ever since we found a video of Kristoff making out with the wall.", She started chuckling at that. "Dumbass said the wall was talking to him."

Then mention of Kristoff's name got my brain working. That's what was missing. "Hey, where is Kristoff?", I asked. I haven't seen the burly blond ever since I've got here.

"Had to stay home.", Steve explained. "Has a lot of family over for the week. So he gets to play host."

"The bastard chose his family over this friends.", Marshall said chuckling.

"You do that all the time.", Steve pointed out.

"Quiet Steveson!", Marshall snapped at him, but couldn't keep a straight face and neither could I.

* * *

I discovered that I was right when I said I would e terrible at beer pong. I was given ten balls, and only two actually went in. It was pathetic really. Compared to me, Marshall was a pro. Seven of her balls went in, so it was bad for me.

At my request, I insisted that the cups only be half full. Marshall was extremely opposed to this, but it was the only way I would play, so she gave in. So in the end, I had to drink three and a half cups. My tolerance for alcohol wasn't that high to begin with, so it was safe to say I was kind of drunk after that. But enough to still be aware of myself and my surroundings. Marshall took her drink like a champ in front of her cheering crowd. The showoff even put ice in it. I was pretty sure we were playing it all wrong though. I voiced my doubts to Marshall, but she just shrugged carelessly and said fuck the rules.

After the terrible party game was over, Marshall got more drinks for herself since I had already passed my exceed my limit. I watched her finish an entire beer can in one go. I felt slightly ashamed of the fact that I couldn't take in as much as her. It must have been very evident on my way because Steve went out of his way to make me feel better. My confidence went up when he mentioned how Kristoff, despite his size, can't even handle one beer. That was comforting to say the least.

I listened as Marshall went off about how boring it would have been if she didn't have a drinking buddy. The alcohol in me made me feel very great about that. I was about to thank her, when I noticed she was no longer looking at me. Her gray eyes were fixed on the dance floor. I followed her gaze directly to find Jack.

I chuckled sightly at the sight of him showing off them moves. He was just terrible and the way he pouted his lip at the group of girls that surrounded him was killing it. My gaze went back to Marshall's longing eyes. I hardly ever see this side of Marshall. She was always outspoken and plain out humorous, so seeing her pining away for some guy was kind of heartbreaking, but at the same time silly.

"Go talk to him.", I told her.

"What?", She said in mock surprise and rolled her eyes. "But he's busy with those other girls.", She sneered at the mention of the said girls.

"Well you're a girl.", I pointed out. "You'll fit right in."

"You don't understand.", Her tone was now dead serious. "He's probably into those petite Barbie, pretty in pink kind of girls. And I'm the like the total opposite."

"Marshall, Jack isn't that shallow.", I argued. "And if he is, then he's not worth your time anyway."

"You know what Anna?", She said, but didn't bother waiting for me to reply. "You're freaking right!"

"You know it.", I said excitedly.

"I'm gonna go for the goal.", Marsha said determinedly with a fist in the air.

"Hell yeah you will.", I said encouragingly.

"Right after another beer.", She said and run in the opposite direction of where Jack was. I rolled my eyes and followed her. Walking there was kind of a challenge with everyone trying to get me to dance with them and the fact that I was kind of drunk was helping at all.

I frowned when I saw that she had three cups in her arms. She was in the process of finishing one of them I got to her.

"Don't judge me!", Marshall snapped, but due to the alcohol in my system, it didn't faze me one bit. "I need to loosen up some more, okay?"

"Okay.", I said sighing. She handed me a cup. I took it, but just stared at it blankly. I already was on the threshold of being totally and hopelessly wasted to the point of no return. One more cup, no, that's not right. One more sip, and my sense of reason and thought would fly out the window.

Marshall took my silence the wrong way. "Don't worry, it's clean. I had the asshole serving them test them."

Despite that even though this wasn't what I was worried about, I nodded anyway. I took a deep breath and made my decision. I held up my cup to her. "Cheers?"

"Bottoms up!", Marshall said happily held up with mine. I took a heavy swing from mine and shuddered at the taste. I breathed and finished the rest of it on the second try try. I felt heat rush to face as I swallowed it all down. It wasn't like I was the only wasted girl around here anyway. That though alone made all the guilt shut up.

Marshall finally got her confidence and we headed to the dance floor. I laughed when she went out of her way to push one of the girls aside.

"Go Marshall!", I said to no one in particular. Since everyone was dancing around me, I did the same and boy was I terrible. Even more so than usual and that's saying something. Just ask Hans. I sighed heavily when I thought of Hans. Too bad he wasn't here, or else we would be having a great time together.

I somehow tripped some guy who was too close beside me. Dude needed to give me space because I was a mess. Eventually, everyone caught on to that, so no one was grinding up against me, so that was good. I had a whole two feet radius to myself. _Sweet!_

Marshall and Jack seemed to hit it off nicely. They were talking enthusiastically about something and I laughed at the girls who were glaring holes in the back of Marshall's head. I slowly stumbled my way towards my friend.

"Hey!", I managed to say to

"Yo Anna!", Her gray eyes were bright. I wasn't sure it was from happiness or the alcohol in her system. I decided to go with the former. It was sounded better. But I was sure my own teal eyes resembled hers anyway.

"Anna!", Jack's sweet deep voice said. His blue eyes were bright as well. "Didn't know you were here."

"Been here a while.", I said slowly. It was getting a hard to speak.

He nodded and turned back to Marshall. "Anyway back to-", He stopped talking when suddenly a gloved hand wrapped itself around his wrist. His smile turned into a confused frown and he turned over his shoulder. "What the hell?!"

I looked past him to see Elsa. I never took her to be the type to show up to these events. Her clothes were all black, except for the number on her chest, which was in white. Her pale skin almost glowed in comparison to the darkness around us.

She didn't say anything, go figure. She simply tugged at his wrist hard and he nearly stumbled to the floor. Either she did it too strong or Jack was simply uncoordinated. At this point, I think that we were all uncoordinated.

Jack groaned in annoyance. "Come on I'm having a great time. Don't be a party pooper!"

Elsa's hard expression didn't changed one bit. Jack appeared to be at war with himself, but sighed in defeat. He turned to Marshall with an apologetic smile. "I have to go."

Marshall looked like a car just ran her over. "Fine.", She murmured in defeat.

Jack nodded and left towards the exit without another word, Elsa following close behind.

My friend's face showed me that she was ready to murder the blonde. "That fucking bitch!"

"Hey, come down.", I said, getting a little defensive. "I'm sure they have somewhere to be."

"Next time I see her, I swear I'm gonna go all Hulk smash on her!", She promised with stormy gray eyes completely oblivious to me.

I couldn't help the giggle that escaped me, this was pretty funny. It was cute how she was all worked up. It was even funnier how she thought she could take on Elsa. That'll be the day.

My vision blurred when someone behind me pushed me. If not for the fact that it was fucking packed on the dance floor, I would have fallen, and fallen hard. I was suddenly aware of how some girl's ass was on my side. I looked at her confused, but I didn't think even she knew what was going on.

Seeing how she wasn't gonna stop any time soon, I went on to get away from her. However that was a mistake because I couldn't see Marshall in the sea of chaos anymore. The booming music and flashing colorful lights weren't helping.

I felt a hand grabbing my arm. Before I could process it, I was sitting on a couch located on the far end of the room. How did I get over here so fast?

"Anna, you still here?", I heard Steve's worried again.

I giggled at his concern. "Aye aye Captain."

It was difficult to understand what he was saying after that. His moved too fast, most of his words slurred in my ear. I think he said he was gonna go look for Marshall. Either that or he was gonna to the Mall to shop for a car. I think the former made more sense. And then he was gone. Oh well, I'll just chill here til he gets back. Shouldn't be too hard since I doubted I could even stand on my own.

"Hey gorgeous.", I heard male voice next to me. His arm snaked its way around my shoulders, but my intoxicated mind couldn't fully process it. Due to the lights being focused on the other side of the room, I couldn't see his face.

"Hi.", I managed to say.

"You alright?", He asked. Light flashed in this direction, I was able to make out his royal blue shirt. I could barely see it through his jacket, but words _Arendelle High_ were printed on it.

I chuckled at that. What a dumbass, got the name our school and the color wrong.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

I laughed at his obliviousness and pointed at his chest. "You!"

"Okay?", He said and scooted closer to me. "Say, wanna get some fresh air?"

"But this is fresh air.", I told him. Compared to the dance floor air, this was heaven. Even if it reeked of weed, and sweat, and booze, and something else I couldn't name.

"No it isn't.", He argued and took my arm. "Come on, let's go outside."

"But Steve wants me to stay here though.", I protested and pulled back.

"He your boyfriend?", He asked a bit alarmed.

I snorted in laughter. "Well he is a boy and he is my friend.", I said as I leaned against the couch. Steve as my boyfriend. I laughed even more at that thought of that. I honestly couldn't imagine that.

"Steve told me to come get you actually.", He suddenly said. "He's waiting for you outside."

"No way!", How could Steve just leave without me? _That little bastard, I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind_. I quickly stood, but my head didn't take that too well. "Wow! headrush.", I nearly fell, but he caught me.

"I'll help you there.", He said and put his arm around my waist.

"Thank.", I murmured as I leaned in against him.

He was right about the air outside when it he said it was better. It was cooler and free of alcohol and smoke. I breathed it all in. This was great.

"Come on, he's waiting in those trees.", He interrupted my breathing period and guided us towards the mini woods and away from the three story house.

"Stupid Steve.", I thought out loud. Why did he have to be too far. I could barely walk. Good thing this guy was helping me out, or else I would have probably crawled on all fours over there.

I nearly stopped in my tracks when I realized something. "What's your name?", I asked. I couldn't remember if he told me already or not. He probably did, but I had forgotten it already. _Stupid brain_.

"Not important.", He said quickly.

I just shrugged. My fault for not remembering. We had made it passed into trees when my phone started ringing. Who the hell would be calling me at this time? Maybe it was Steve with a lame excuse for ditching me. I was gonna reached for my phone and give him hell about it, but the guy reached for it before I could even move my phone.

"I'll take it.", He said. I don't know what he did exactly, but it stopped making ringing. I sighed. I suppose I could deal with him the next time I see him.

The world around me was blur in the next second as I was pushed against a tree. He was murmuring shit I couldn't understand in a husky voice, the next thing I knew his mouth was on mine. His hard lips roughly invaded my mouth. _This was strange_, I thought to myself. _Did I give him permission to do this?_ My head hurted as I tried hard to remember. I was about to push him away because the guy had horrible bad breath when I felt something hard poke me through his jeans on my lower stomach.

"Huh?", I thought out loud through the kiss. I didn't know you could put your phone down there. He really shouldn't be doing that, people might get the wrong idea and think he's very horny or something. I wanted to tell him that, but his mouth was still on mine. I gasped for air when he pulled back. It was getting hard to breath there for a second.

I closed my eyes because my head to painfully buzz. I felt like I was on the verge of throwing up and it was embarrassing to say the least. Making a fool of myself was not on the agenda when I woke up this morning. At least the booming music wasn't around to pop my ears out so that was good.

I opened my eyes and found that he had removed his jacket. I chuckled at his shirt for being wrong again. His guy is a total idiot. Hum...idiot. I never realized what a funny word it was. "Idiot.", I laughed at the sound it on my tongue. It sounded all slurry and all messed up. Man I must be really wasted right now.

"What you say to me?", He said in an angry tone with an ugly frown on his face. I bet if he smiled more, he wouldn't look so ugly.

"Funny word.", I explained, but with puzzled look he gave me, I don't think he heard me correctly. Someone needs to go see a doctor.

"Whatever.", I heard him murmured and his hands were now on my sides, his thick fingers making a grab for my shirt. Since it was a button plaid shirt, he opened it right in the middle without any difficulty. I sighed in relaxation. The cool wind felt so nice against my hot body. Looking down at myself, I noticed that I still had on my black bra. I mildly panicked at the fact that I had a bit a freckles there. Were those always there? Remembering stuff was so hard, and my head was beginning to hurt.

I shivered sightly. It wasn't this cold before. I was about to tell him if he could button my shirt back, but he was no where to be found. _The fuck?_ I was so surprised he was gone, that I ended up falling on the forest ground below me with a loud thud. I gasped for air as it was forced out of me with roaring pain.

"Ow.", I murmured as I laid still and waited for the pain on my stomach to subside.

After a couple minutes of this, I carefully willed myself to sit up against the tree behind me. I breathed deeply and looked around me, but the asshole who left me alone in the dark woods was nowhere to be seen. _Damn that bastard!_ I thought angrily. _Left me all alone_. I huffed in annoyance. _What am I gonna do now?_

"AGHHH!", My head up at the sound of that scream. It was male, sounded just like him. Sounded like he was in pain. Idiot probably tripped and hit his nuts. I smiled. Hit a guy where he breathes and he goes down. I wouldn't mind seeing that happen to him one bit.

I looked up and saw faint white stars coming down. They slowly rode the cool air coming down. They were very beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that I didn't mind the sky falling. I wanted to touch one, but I could barely even feel my body anymore, much less move it willingly. One slowly landed on my hot hand, and it turned to cold water.

_Strange_, I thought to myself. I was taught that stars were made of fire, not water. I studied my hand intently. Wait a minute, these weren't falling stars. It was snow. I've never seen snow first hand. In once snowed lightly in San Francisco, but I slept right through it and when I went outside, all I found were puddles. Alice had actually woken up at the break of dawn to see it and the little bitch wouldn't let me hear the end of it.

I felt a tugging at my shirt. My eyes went to see two pale hands buttoning up my shirt. _Huh?_ I didn't know I had four hands. That was actually kind of awesome. Like that one Spider-Man episode where Peter grew extra arms.

But these weren't connected to me though. My eyes followed the pale white hands to the black sleeved arms. I saw a familiar number 19. _Elsa_. Her name rang in my head.

My eyes went up to her face and I gulped. I saw anger, mostly anger at least. I also saw concern. And that concern seemed to be directed at me. I don't think I've ever seen this in her. Then I took note of her brilliant blue eyes. They were even more gorgeous up close. I felt like I would get lost in them if I wasn't careful, but I no longer cared about that.

"You have pretty eyes.", I blurted out. She's probably been told that so many times and most likely grown tried of it, but I just needed to let her know.

"Can you walk?", She asked gently. Her voice was nice. Too bad she never spoke much. I shook my head in response to her question. She nodded. "Come on.", Elsa said softly and pulled me up from the ground.

She placed her left arm was around my waist and my right arm around her cold shoulders. I had to lean heavily against her, but she didn't seem to mind. Her body felt unusually cold. It was nice because it was relieving some of the intense heat from me. Slowly, we began walking away from the thick and dark trees.

"Wait!", I said, remembering something important. _Oh my god, I'm such an idiot_. "We're leaving Steve behind!"

She looked at my face before shaking her head. She murmured something under her breath, but I couldn't make it out. She was frowning though. I must have upsetted her somehow. Nice going Anna.

I nearly tripped on a root, but she held me. Her hold around me tighten even. I was suddenly glad of the darkness that surrounded us because it meant that she couldn't see my red face. But she still somehow knew.

"It's alright.", Elsa said soothingly.

"Thanks.", I said weakly. We must have really been in the woods because I was beat tired from the walk. My sweaty and throbbing head felt about ready to explode. I really should not have drank that much.

Since we were walking to back to the house, the darkness should have grown weak. I mean, the huge house was a freaking lantern out here. But it was the opposite. It was getting darker around me and I didn't know why. Everything was dimming.

Black dots appeared in my field of vision and no matter where my eyes went, they followed. "I think I'm losing it.", I mumbled, but even I didn't understand what came out of my mouth. It was getting harder and harder to stay focused and my eyes no longer wished to stay opened. They were closing without my consent. It was out right terrifing

"You can let go.", I heard Elsa's ever soft voice. Which also wasn't helping me stay awake. If anything, it made it even more impossible. "I've got you."

And with that, I was out cold, it wasn't much of a choice anyway. I think I have heard Elsa's phone ringing as I lost consciousness, but that might have been my drunken mind's imagination.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading.**


	15. Chapter 15

"_Well I know you don't know the reason. And it's cold, a sign of the season._

_'Cause you're old, and battered and beaten. And we'll grow til we hit the ceiling."_

_Skin -Breaking Benjamin_

* * *

I looked at the clock at the end of the classroom and sighed. Still about ten minutes left in here and Ms. Pierce didn't look like she was gonna let us out early. Not that she could anyway. They had upped the security at the school, so you couldn't be out there without a hall pass. There was a rumor some kid that was either missing or killed, the rumor mill couldn't make up its mind, so the school board was taking some extra precautions until things calmed down.

I wanted to lay my head against the desk and doze off, but I really shouldn't. Especially with how Ms. Pierce likes to pick on those who didn't pay attention. Another reason to stay up was that from time to time, Ms. Pierce gave out extra credit for good behavior. I may need it in the future when I get hit with the lazies, so that was motivation enough.

I sighed and my eyes went to Jack. From a teacher's perspective, it appeared as if he was just simply doing his work like a good student. However from someone who was sitting directly in front of him, like myself, I could see he was just doodling on his black notebook.

With his black pen, he had drawn a black snowflake with lightning piercing its center. It was actually very good with all the extra detail he took great care to put in. The fact that it was in pen made it even more impressive. I smiled in amusement when I saw a stick figure in the corner holding out a wand with a thought bubble that spelled _Expecto Patronum_. And at the end of the said wand was what looked like to be Santa Claus scaring away a cloaked figure in black.

"Like it?", Jack asked when he caught me staring.

"Yeah, you really have the imagination.", I complimented.

"Thanks.", He replied with a very faint blush. His blue eyes moved to the teacher as to make sure she wasn't looking. When he saw that the coast was clear he turned to me. "Hey Anna, can I ask you something?"

"Sure.", I answered without a care. "What is it?"

"Well you know my sister Elsa, right?", He started with a hint of nervousness.

My head moved on its own accord at the mention of the blonde. "Yeah, she's got quite the personality.", I said as an image of her flash in front of my eyes.

Jack shrugged. "Sounds about right.", He murmured before getting to the point. "So anyway, she tutors you after school for Chemistry, correct?"

"Yeah.", I said, not knowing where he was trying to go with this. "Mr. Oaken paired me up with her because she's the best in the class."

"Tell me about it.", He scoffed in annoyance. "I swear she sets the bar at perfection and now my parents expect that out of me as well."

"Ha ha, good one.", I said sarcastically.

"No I'm serious. My mom used to be happy with B's and C's.", His mouth twisted in displeasure at a new thought. "Nowadays, a simple C is the equivalent of Satan's child."

"Well, what can I say.", I couldn't really relate to that. Mom always took extra care to not compare me to Alice or her to me. Looking at Jack's annoyed face, I suddenly really appreciated it. "You need to step up your game."

"I guess...", Jack trailed off, then his eyes lit up realization. "Huh, we totally went off topic there.", He clasped his hands together as to hold on to what he was going to say. "So back to the original point, my question is about my sister Elsa."

I was a bit confused. What could I possibly know her that he didn't? Being her brother, he knew more about her than I'll ever know. "Alright, hit me.", I said, thinking that maybe Elsa was in some kind of trouble.

"Does she actually talk?", Jack asked. His brilliant blue eyes, the same as his sister's, were filled with curiosity and utter seriousness.

I brought a hand up to my mouth to hold in my laughter when I realized this. "Are you serious?", I asked chuckling. "Here I was thinking that she maybe committed a crime, but the your question is if she talks."

He pouted a bit and rolled his eyes. "Well in my defense, I hardly ever hear her. And when I do, it's only a couple words.", He explained hurriedly. "The very idea of her teaching someone is stranger than a fish out of water in the middle of Arizona."

"Fair enough.", I said defeat as I calmed down. He was just curious, nothing wrong with that. I cleared my throat get it out of my system. "Anyway, yeah Elsa talks.", I informed him and his eyes lit up at that. "But it's all Chemistry related. I mean, if she could get away with writing notes to me, I don't think she would waste another breath."

"Oh.", Jack's disappointed tone didn't go unnoticed by me.

"What brought this on, anyway?", I asked him.

"I don't know.", He said in defeat and ran a hand through his already ruffled light brown hair. "I guess I've just realized I know literally nothing about her and we live in the same house."

"That sounds rough.", Again I couldn't relate to that as I knew everything about my sister, except for the reason she stayed after school. She said would tell me, but she never talks about it and I kept forgetting to ask. "But if it's any consolation, we're all in the dark about her, so you're not missing out on much."

"Yeah I know.", He gave a tired sigh.

A memory suddenly flashed in front of my eyes. It was of the other night, when I heard Elsa playing her cello. God, I had nearly forgotten about it. She had asked me to keep it a secret...

Maybe I was wrong. There was something about Elsa that only I knew, and maybe Hans too, but he didn't seen to care. Elsa's family didn't about it and that included Jack. I bit the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from from talking as I was about to. It was hard, especially knowing he would love to hear about it.

But Elsa's soft voice rang in my head. _Can you keep this encounter and my performance to yourself?_ I turned to Jack's somewhat sad face. It was tempting, that was so sure. But remembering Elsa's request of keeping quiet, I couldn't do it.

It wasn't fair to Jack, but it was important to Elsa. I became at war with myself. My kind heart wanted to tell Jack about what I had seen and make him smile in the process. My logical mind, on the other hand, didn't see it fit to betray Elsa's trust in me keeping quiet as it didn't accomplish much in the end.

After a few seconds of thought, I made the executive decision on the matter.

I usually did what my instincts told me, but my smarter self finally won. It was kind of a bitch move, but with either decision, it was a bitch move no matter what. Only this one was the right one. I had made a promise to Elsa and I was intending on keeping it.

"Sorry.", I whispered quietly under breath, but Jack didn't hear it. He too busy drawing a second snowflake with his black pen.

* * *

None of my friends were at our usual table when I entered the cafeteria. I didn't mind it. I considered getting my lunch, but I wasn't in the mood for what they were serving. I think it might have been lasagna, and if it was, lasagna was not supposed to look like that at all. I wrinkled my nose in disgust and headed for the table instead. I'll just go to the vending machine and get something late if I'm that hungry later on.

A minute after I sat down, Marshall came in panting through the double doors. She sat in front of me without a word.

"What's the matter with you?", I asked, the curiosity getting the best of me.

"Give me a minute.", She gasped for air a couple times before settling down. "I went up to Gold's classroom to turn in my paper before he left."

That explained why she was out of breath. I knew that she had P.E. fourth period and that class was usually tiring on Mondays. So Marshall had to change really fast and leave from there all tired and run all the way up to Gold's classroom on the third floor. Plus you have to be there within the first five minutes of lunch or else he won't accept it at all. He was stupidly strict on that.

"Glad you made it then.", I said smiling and she nodded. "But you do know you had all weekend to do it, right?"

"Ugh! You sound just like him.", Marshall complained and rolled her eyes. "Anyway it's not my fault, I was hungover all day yesterday. I don't even know why I bothered showing up today."

I rolled my teal eyes a bit. "So was I and I got it done."

She scoffed and shook her head. "Well you didn't drink as much as me.", She tried reasoned.

"True.", I agreed. "But we both drank to our limits.", I countered.

"And you got to rest all comfortable and whatnot with your mom out of town while I had to hide it from my parents.", She resorted and then smirked. "And I was successful, just thought I might add."

I sighed. I sometimes felt like Marshall lived for arguing. Someone says something and she'll say the opposite, even when she had no idea what she was talking about. If I let her, we could go on all day. "Yes you were.", I said, making my resignation clear.

I looked up to see Kristoff walking up towards us. Before I could say anything, he placed a finger on his lips, as a sign to tell me to keep quiet about his presence as he snuck up behind Marshall, who was smiling in victory at me.

It was impossible to suppress my grin. I tried my best to not look directly at Kristoff as to not give him away.

"What are you smiling about.", Marshall asked confused.

I shook my head too quickly. "Nothing."

"Really because I-", She didn't get to finish.

She was cut off by Kristoff grabbing her torso from behind with strong hands and yelling loudly into her ear. "Hike!"

Marshall turned a one shade lighter and screamed out in both surprise and horror. She placed a hand over her heart as she calmed down. The look on her face was absolutely priceless. Especially with how her eyes looked about really to pop out, and her black eye liner only made it stand out.

As soon as Marshall had realized what had happened, Kristoff and I burst out in laughter. I felt guilty and all, but not enough to regret it one bit. Marshall's pale face turned beet red with anger in a matter of seconds. Her glare was directed at the blond who had taken a seat next to her and was still laughing at her expense.

"Kristoff!", She growled. "You fucker!"

"Hey!", He said once he had calmed down enough to speak. "Watch that potty mouth of yours.", He poked her nose in amusement and she looked about ready to bite it off.

Then her glare turned to me. "And you!", She pointed at me with an accusing index finger. "Are gonna get it as well as Kristopher!"

"What's going on here?", Steve suddenly appeared next to me, finally getting here. His eyes on Marshall's still red face.

"I'll tell you what.", Marshall was still pissed off. "This two assholes nearly gave me a fucking heart attack!"

"Another one?", He raised an eyebrow in my direction and I shrugged with a smile.

Kristoff chuckled. "You really missed out on a good laugh Captain. What took you so long anyway?"

"Well.", He said sighing. "I walked out of class a couple minutes early to use the restroom, but I forgot the pass.", He explained. "And since that was my own fault, they gave me a wonderful pink slip that says I have detention."

"Ouch.", I said to him. "When?"

"They said they'll inform me tomorrow.", He slumped down in his seat.

"What happened to your face?", Kristoff asked in both curiosity and concern. It was then that I saw Steve had two small nail scratches against this left cheek. It was easy for it to go unnoticed, thanks to his tan.

Steve's face twisted in displeasure and turned to Marshall, who looked away a bit guilty. "Marshall got in a fight at the party and yours truly had to pull her from crawling some poor girl's eyes out."

"You don't say.", Kristoff raised an eyebrow in her direction.

Marshall scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "That bitch was asking for it."

"Doesn't mean you have to fight her.", Steve said a bit angry. It was understandable, I knew I wouldn't like pulling someone off of somebody. "Anyway, that wasn't the worse of it."

"I'm guessing you didn't have a good time.", The Kristoff stated.

"It could have been better.", Steve said with a nod. "That wasn't the worse of it.", He turned to me. "I lost Anna and I had to keep a drunk and annoying Marshall while looking all over the giant house."

"I got lost?", I asked in bewilderment, but they didn't hear me since I spoke at the same time as Marshall and her voice was louder than mine at the moment.

"Why are you always wandering off like that Anna?", Marshall asked playfully. "And here I thought it was my job to give these two morons a hard time."

"And a fantastic job you do at it.", Kristoff grunted in annoyance.

I didn't realized I had gotten lost that night. Truth be told, I hardly have a memory of that night. The last thing I remembered was that I was in the dance floor with Marshall and she was pissed off for some reason. I didn't know the exact details of it.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up in my room the day after with a massive headache that didn't go away until late afternoon. And I wasn't exactly in a clean condition when I had regain a sense of self. My hands were dirty, had small cuts, and covered in dried blood, I think I may fallen somewhere along the night. There were vomit strains all over my clothes as well, which almost made me puke on the spot after realizing it. But other than that, I was just fine and I never really questioned how I had gotten there.

I had asked Alice for details, but she was giving me the silent treatment for leaving her alone that night. And yes, she was still pissed off about the whole thing. She wouldn't even look at me on the drive to school. Hopefully she'll get over it by the end of the week, before my mom got suspicious and ask questions. I couldn't very well tell her I had gone out.

"So where did you find me anyway?", I asked, hoping to get a better picture of what went on that night.

"Let's see.", Steve started. "After pulling somebody off of someone.", He gave Marshall a quick glare and she stuck her tongue out at him. "And seeing things I should have never seen while looking for you, I-"

"Was it Kristopher Robin making out with the wall?", Marshall asked with a smirk in the said boy's direction. "Because I still have the video if anyone's interested.", Her gray eyes were on me.

"I'm never gonna live down, now am I?", Kristoff groaned in embarrassment with a blush.

"Never.", She agreed and turned to me. "What do you say Anna?"

I chuckled. As much I wanted to, I gave into the blond's pleading eyes and spared him farther humiliation. "Maybe sometime in the far future."

She sighed mockingly. "I guess it can wait a bit longer."

"In my defense, I wasn't exactly in the right mind.", He informed her.

"Of course you weren't.", Marshall rolled her eyes and turned to Steve. "Anyway, you were saying Steve?"

"I went to your car, hoping you had wandered off there, but it was nowhere to be found at all.", He stopped to clear hist throat. "So I drove all the way to your place, and I found your car, so that meant you had gotten yourself home safely."

"Wow, drunk Anna can drive.", Marshall said impressed.

"I guess.", I said uncertainly. I could barely drive sober, so how the hell did I get home without causing a car crash. Unless someone helped me, but honestly who would? I guess I was just really lucky that night.

"And so I was on my way to take a certain someone home.", Steve continued on and narrowed his brown eyes at Marshall. "When they puked nasty stuff all over the front seat and dashboard."

"Gross.", Kristoff wrinkled his nose and nudged Marshall. "And you say I'm the pig."

"Well you are.", She resorted and he chuckled. "And sorry Steve. I really am.", For once Marshall was serious.

"Don't worry about it. You were passed out wasted. Not like you couldn't have stopped if you wanted to.", Steve gave her a small smile that reached his eyes behind his glasses.

"I'll clean for you if want.", Marshall offered.

"Nah, Dad took care of it already. ", Steve declined. "He finally cashed in that free wash coupon he had lying around."

"At least it all worked out.", I said to him and he nodded.

"True.", Marshall said. "Now if only Saul can stop playing lost boy, then the school can drop the extra security."

"Who's Saul?", I asked. Not knowing people was another reminder of being the new girl. I didn't have a problem with it, I really didn't, but I sometimes felt stupid for being the ignorant one in the group. At least no one seemed to mind answering my questions, so it was more tolerable.

"Well you know the rumor of the guy who went missing?", Kristoff asked me.

"Oh yeah.", I said realization as the information clicked. "I heard about that. Do you guys know what actually happened?"

Kristoff was the one to answer. "Well it's going around that he was last seen at Jason's party-",

"Saul, that fucking man whore.", Marshall said cutting him off. "I swear, he has a new girlfriend every other month."

"Anyway.", Kristoff said loudly. "As it goes, his parents freaked out that he didn't come home, so they called the cops, who started asking questions and all that bullcrap."

"Yeah, they found this jacket at the far end of the woods covered in blood.", Marshall said. "It might be his, but they're still testing it in the lab."

"Was it a lot?", I asked. Finding blood was never a good sign.

Kristoff brought his brows together in thought. "Yeah, kind of. Like he might have been stabbed or something."

"That's something else then.", I said, taking a deep breath.

"Anyway, that's where the confusion starts.", Marshall said nodding. "Some think he was murdered and others think he was kidnapped or something. But the last one's unlikely since the guy's huge and all."

"So what you guys are saying is could be a murderer running around.", I asked for clarification. This was a little more frightening to me than it should have been. Back where I lived in the city, hearing about a murder in the news was normal. But here it was different story, especially with a town as small as this one. There was even a higher risk of running into a murderer if indeed there was one at all. It was understandable why the school would be worried.

"Maybe, but I don't think so.", Kristoff said shrugging, not at all disturbed. "They also found a huge pile of melting snow on the sight, so he could just be playing a prank. God knows, it wouldn't be the first time."

"Yeah, that sums it up.", Marshall agreed. "Saul can be such an attention seeking whore sometimes. He'll turned up in a couple days and be all like 'Ha! Fooled ya!'", She did her imitation of a guy's voice at the last part. It wasn't that good, funny even. "He's the type of asshole who would do that kind of thing."

"So he's like the boy who cried wolf.", I concluded.

I was convinced this guy was just playing a prank, but I still had a hard time believing it. It was like I was lying to myself if I thought it was nothing. There was something about this that felt familiar. It was like one of those moments when you try to remember something forgotten. You know you have the information, but just can't access it.

Something was missing though. "What about the girl he was with? Does she know anything?"

"They have no clue as to who she might be.", Kristoff said. "It was dark, so nobody saw her, plus everyone was too high and drunk to gave any credible information anyway. Like some idiot claimed it was snowing out in the parking area."

"Anna, stop over thinking the situation.", Marshall said smiling. "Moron Saul's just punking everyone. He'll turn up, you'll see."

"I hope so.", I murmured to myself.

"I hope he gets arrested when he comes out.", Steve murmured under his breath to himself, his eyes downcast. It was first time he had said anything about the whole incident.

I looked at the other two and gave them a questioning look. It was Kristoff who spoke out.

"Saul really is a total douchebag.", Kristoff said in a serious tone that surprised me a little. "He used to come here freshmen year and wasn't exactly the nicest guy to Steve in P.E.", His brown eyes contained sadness and anger at the memory of it.

I nodded. "Okay.", I understood how he felt. I remembered the boiling anger I had felt back when Abby was a crazy bitch to Elsa. The mere thought of it had me gritting my teeth. And that fact that Alice was a potential victim raised my heart in anger as my protective sister instinct kicked in. They should really do something about the bullying, instead of giving in to assholes playing lost.

"You know...", Marshall said trailing off with a growing grin on her face, trying to lighten the mood and it was working. "When Saul turns up, we should totally egg the shit out of his house."

There was tension as we waited for Steve to speak, he was the only one who could stop. "Can we include his car?", He asked, after a while. We all let out a breath of relieve.

Marshall smiled in victory. "Fuck yeah we'll egg his stupid car.", She said in agreement. We all laughed at that. "I'll bring my brother's bat while we're at it."

Steve nodded. "I'd like that."

"Then it's settled.", I said laughing. You know that moment when you begin to wonder whether or not you're serious or just playing around? That's what began to happen to me as we chatted more about the things we were gonna do with Saul's stuff. Kristoff said he would bring a blowtorch and Marshall said she would bring the gasoline to go with it. I offered to bring toilet paper because it would a crime to not have it.

The whole situation of Saul was still lingering in the back of my head as I joked around with my friends. I gave up on it when I couldn't put my finger on it, but one thing was clear. This feeling wouldn't leave me until I found out what became of Saul, whether he was just playing a sick joke on everyone or someone had actually gotten him. And if it was the latter, which I hope not, there was only one question. And it was the motivation, what did he do to deserve it?

* * *

"You're all dismissed!", Mr. Smith yell angrily to all of us at the end of class. He furiously stumped his away.

"Thank goodness.", I breathed out in exhaustion with a smile.

"Tell me about it.", A girl next to me with short hair said.

"Right!", I said back to her in agreement.

Some idiot had broken into Mr. Smith's office and spray painted one of his walls red. Funny thing was that I more surprised that he had an office to begin with. He was a P.E. teacher, so I didn't see why he would need one to begin with. And the other funny thing was that it was the Mockingjay symbol from The Hunger Games. Apparently someone's really excited for it and wants to start their own revolution...against the P.E. teacher. Laugh of the year, right there.

Too bad Mr. Smith didn't have a sense of humor like the rest of us. Not even mildly amused, he was absolutely furious about the whole affair. He had reason to believe that the culprit was in this class. Of course he didn't share how he came to that conclusion, so I doubted anyone was actually guilty to begin with. So now he was punishing everyone with endless laps around the track everyday until someone came clean.

I sighed with aching legs and made me way slowly towards the locker room to change. I really hoped that whoever did it confess soon because I was about ready to die out there. If not, then hopefully the school board will step in and do something about it because it really wasn't fair to punish only one class for it. All the others periods had it easy, from what I heard anyway.

As I changed, in the corner of my eye, I saw Elsa quickly leave the room as if the plague was about to break out in here.

"Someone's fast.", I murmured to myself and finished changing into my street clothes.

I hadn't really seen Elsa all day, despite having three classes with her. In English, stupid Gold had us rapidly writing notes like crazy so I was too busy to glance in her direction. In Oaken's class, I may or may not have fallen asleep as we watched a film about heat and pressure. No wonder I needed help in that class, I didn't pay attention. God I suck sometimes. And now, trying not to faint out there in the heat was my mind instead of watching Elsa who was probably at the front like always.

I walked down the hallway towards my locker so that I could get my Chemistry book. Normally I would just leave it there for the night because I was beginning to hate it, but I had tutoring after school. I had nearly forgotten, but Elsa had left me an index card in the locker room with a simple reminder. She could have told me in class or even waited for me, but she seemed to be going out of her way to avoid me. Nothing new I guess.

When I walked in into the library, I spotted Elsa's platinum blonde hair in the usual back table away from everyone. Her hair always stood out for attention without even trying, maybe that was why the tips were dyed black, as to try to blend into the crowd, but it was failing. Her pale skin only intensified both colors.

She had her back turned against the door, so she couldn't see me. Knowing her, I was sure that was done on purpose.

"Hi.", I greeted her as I sat in front of her.

Even though Elsa had recently started talking more, she remained silent and nodded slowly as if afraid to talk.

I did my best to not stare at her, but I failed and I couldn't help it. She was sleep deprived, that was so sure as I rudely stared at her. She had dark circles under her tired blue eyes that made her look a few years older and not in a good way at all. And again, her pale skin and nearly white hair made it stand out more as well. And speaking of her skin, it looked more like a sickly pale.

"It's considered rude to stare.", Her voice was soft, but firm none the less.

I wasn't fazed by it, guess I was getting used to it. "Sorry.", I apologized quickly. "But um, are you okay?"

She took a deep breath. "I've been better.", She paused, as if considering her options, for a moment, but then decided to continue. "It should pass by nightfall."

"Oh, okay I get it, is it like one of those 24 hour things?", I asked her even though I had a good idea of what her response would be. If she answered at all, that is.

She shrugged with uninterested expression. "Sure, let's go with that."

"Of course.", I didn't bother to hide my sarcasm, but it was useless as Elsa just ignored it like any other thing. I sighed in defeat. "Fine.", I said to her. "But just don't faint on me, I barely have the upper body strength for a couple push-ups, much less to carry you home."

Elsa's expression switched to that of slight amusement, but it didn't last long. "Funny you should say that."

I was a little shaken back by it. Any positive emotion out of Elsa was unheard of. I suppose she was starting to warm up to me. Either that or I was such a fuck up that it was amusing, hopefully, it was the former. However, it still didn't explain what she had said. "What do you mean by that?"

She studied my face with imitating eyes for a half a minute before sighing. But it wasn't a tired sigh. It was one of relief, and that caught my attention. "I suppose it no longer matters.", Her attention quickly switched back to the homework Mr. Oaken had assigned us. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

I gazed at her skeptically. Elsa was hiding something, that was for sure, but then again, what isn't she hiding? This girl was full of secrets. "Okay."

* * *

Elsa was a great tutor, she really was. I was usually a great learner. But today was just a bad day for the both of us.

For me, I couldn't focus at all and I didn't know why. What she was teaching was simple, yet my mind couldn't grasp it. One second, I understood the material and the next, I was hopelessly and aimlessly lost. It was embarrassing to have to ask Elsa to repeat the same shit over and over again. The blonde didn't seem to mind it much though. But then again, I could be completely wrong. Elsa was really great at concealing how she truly felt, so for all I knew, I could be working her last nerve and I wouldn't even know it.

And as for Elsa, she was distracted and tensed. She always appears tense, I suppose, but right now, it was intensified. Looking from far away, you wouldn't be able to see it, but if you were sitting right in front of her as I was, it was quite obvious.

For one thing, she was sitting as if someone had jammed a ruler in her spine. Sitting up straight like that, she looked threateningly taller, reminding me of our height differences. Another thing was that every time she wasn't explaining something to dumb me, her jaw was set hard and rigid. Little things like these somehow added to the sickly appearance I had picked up on her when I walked in. It was if she was trying to appear strong or something.

And then there were her hands, her gloved hands. She kept tapping them impatiently on the wooden table. It was so distracting to me in the way that it sounded like a ticking clock heading towards the end. One thing about me was that I didn't work too well under pressure, especially on deadlines, the sound was making me more and more anxious by the second. I could ask her to stop, but it was a lame and embarrassing request.

I had thought that maybe she was just tapping the tune of a song stuck in her head, I know I've done that many times myself. But I could find no rhythm or pattern in it whatsoever. Maybe I simply didn't know any song that went like that, so it was just mindless and distracting tapping to me.

Elsa sighed in exhaustion when I had asked her to explain some heat formula again. That was when it hit me that maybe I really was working her last nerves with my ignorance.

"We should stop.", I said, cutting her off from whatever it was she was talking about since I had stopped listening already. God, I really was terrible at this.

"I told you I'm fine.", Elsa said irritably, thinking that I wanted to stop for her.

"It's not that.", I didn't meet her eyes as I spoke. "I'm just having an off day today and all of this.", I gestured to the work we were doing, it looked more like math homework from the looks from it. "None of it is clicking at all. How about we pick up on it tomorrow?"

Elsa gave me a hard look. "We have a test on Friday."

"Well I'm fucked then.", I mumbled to myself. I couldn't fail another test in the same class. My grade was already down to a D because of my last one and the assignments I had turned in had only brought it up by three percent. If I magically passed it, then a low B was possible.

"Then we'll need to meet up everyday to study then.", Elsa said after a minute of silence to think it over. She gave me a hard and knowing look. "And you'll need to make more of an effort."

I blushed nervously, knowing exactly what she was referring to. Her impression of me had changed to thinking I was lazy. "You saw that?"

"I sit next to you.", She pointed out. I nodded, figured as much. She leaned back against her chair sighing. "We still have about a half hour in here."

I glanced at the clock on the wall. "Looks about right."

It looked like we were stuck here, at least Elsa was. She couldn't leave because she was the tutor here, and there was a policy about it. I could walk out anytime I wanted, but I couldn't do that to Elsa, even if it was tempting to avoid the awkwardness.

I wasn't sure what to make of the extra time we had left. We weren't doing schoolwork, so I supposed we could talk to pass the time. The only problem was that Elsa wasn't a talker at all, always keeping to herself. I took comfort in the fact that it wasn't like those frustrating first days of school.

My teal eyes traveled down to the table as to find some sort of distraction. Nothing in the library was note worthy at this time anyway. I noticed Elsa's shades next to her Chemistry book, near her still aimlessly tapping gloved hand.

"Why do you wear those.", I asked with curiosity in my head, wishing to know more about her. "Don't get me wrong, you look nice in them and all, but I'm just asking."

Her lips pursed. "I can't tell you.", She said with a quiet voice.

I rolled my eyes at her response. "Sure you can Elsa. You just choose not to.", I said in protest, my patience running a bit low at the moment.

"You're right.", She agreed with cold eyes. "I don't want to tell you."

It was upsetting that was for sure, but I wasn't about to let that get to me. I was better than that. "I promise I won't tell anyone.", I offered as gently as I could.

Her eyes suddenly turned hard when I said that. _Wait a minute_, I I thought to myself. _Was Elsa angry?_ I think I've only seen her angry once and it was in the middle of beating Abby to a pulp. If her anger was directed at me, then I was screwed big time.

"The same way you promise to not tell anyone about the other night?", Her harsh voice snapped me back from my thoughts.

It took me a full minute to realize what she was talking about. When, I did figure it out, I was just as dumbfounded as I was surprised. "You mean the cello?", I asked and she nodded. I stared at her curiously at that. I knew it was important to her and all, but I didn't realized it was _that_ important. "It's still a secret."

Elsa's eyes widen at what I had said. "What?"

I resisted the urge to chuckled at the sight. Too bad I couldn't take a picture as it would last longer. "I've told no one."

"But I thought...", She trailed off, lost in thought.

"That what?", I asked. "I would go spilling your secret to everyone I knew?", I'll admit to myself that could be a blabbermouth if I wasn't careful. It sure got me into a ton of trouble growing up, but that was beside the point. I had managed to keep it from Jack and if I could that, then the rest should be fairly easy.

To my dismay, Elsa nodded. "Spot on.", She murmured quietly in defeated and what I thought was shame.

I wondered what happened that made her that way, so distrusting. Judging from her reaction of it, it must have been something big in her past.

But that wasn't what got to me. What really got to me was that she wanted no one to know about how she beautifully played the cello. Most people love getting attention for their music or favorite hobby and they do crazy things for the attention of the public. A hand full crazy mainstream celebrities came to mind. But here was Elsa, all paranoid about word getting out. The girl who get let herself get bullied by a total bitch, is worried about this. _Really Elsa?_ I thought to myself in disbelief.

"Thank you.", She said sincerely with no sarcasm to be found.

I widen my teal eyes in surprise. "Uh...", I cleared my throat. "You're welcome.", A wave of inward happiness washed over me. I tried not to let it show, I failed. Not that I cared anyway.

She wasn't smiling, that was too much to ask for, but she was more at peace now. Hell, her mindless tapping has ceased. This must have been what was eating at her this whole time. That thought that I had told someone. At least she now knew she could trust me and that I wasn't lying.

"Do you still want to know?", Her voice silently asked.

My eyes traveled to her hands, that were now holding up her shades in the space between the two of us. _She's offering_. I realized. As much as I wanted to know, it wouldn't be fair. I knew she was doing it out of guilt for doubting my word.

"I want to.", I said and then shook my head, hating myself for declining. "But it's up to you."

She pursed her lips slightly at my response as she studied my face some more as if looking for something. Her eyes traveled downward. She sighed, making her choice. "It used to be for medical purposes.", She said quietly, choosing to tell.

Disbelief and concern covered my face. "Something's wrong with your eyes?"

Her face was down facing the desk. "Not anymore, but the bright lights gave me migraines."

"Oh.", If that was the case, and I was sure it was, then it made sense. The sun is the enemy to those with conditions like that. Actually that kind of explained why she was so pale like that, she must avoid the sun. Jack was a little pale too, but his skin tone seemed more natural, not forced like hers.

"And now...", Elsa cleared her throat. I almost laughed at the irony here. This must be so hard and awkward for her. "I wear them out of habit.", She finished.

I nodded. "Okay.", It was surprising how wrong I was. When I first met her, I had thought she was trying to be a cool badass or something, but she once had a legitimate excuse for them. Who would have thought?

It was such a shame though. Looking at her closely, she had very nice eyes. "Old habits are breakable, you know."

Elsa's eyes, though the same blue shade as ever, resembled an icy blue. "So they say."

Maybe I was just over thinking this, but I felt there was a hidden meaning behind those three simple words. She was implying something else, but I didn't know what it was.

Before I could say anything regarding this, the sound of a ringing phone filled the air. It wasn't mine, the ringtone was different, but I remembered it as Elsa's. This might sound crazy, but even though I've only heard it once before, which was at the restaurant Hans took me to, I knew this wasn't my first time hearing it. It was a pretty common ringtone, but I still couldn't shake off the weird feeling. Strange, this was similar to the uneasiness I felt towards Saul's disappearance.

Instead of answering it as I expected, Elsa quickly began to throw all her belongings into her dark blue backpack without a care in organization. I guess she could figure the mess out later.

"Bye.", She mumbled and was out the door before I could protest, or say anything for that matter.

"Okay bye.", I murmured to no one but myself. I was going off on my own speculation here, but I had a gut feeling that this person calling her was the same mysterious caller from the other day. I didn't think she would hurriedly leave like for a call from her family. From what I had gathered from Jack, she was distant.

But who would she be talking to anyway if not them? She didn't have any friends here, sad as that was. Whoever this person was, they must be from wherever it was that she lived before coming to Arendelle. It was only the explanation especially with her reaction from the other night. It showed that she wasn't expecting them, but she _knew_ them.

I sighed in exhaustion. It was tiring just thinking about it and trying to figure it out. I could simply save myself the trouble and just ask her about it. We were talking more and more with passing days, slow progress, but progress none the less. To put it into perspective, Elsa didn't talk to just anyone who decides to have a chat with her. She hardly talked to teachers and even Ms. Connors could barely get anything out of her. And she was a professional.

"Oh well.", I said to myself in defeat. Maybe in the future.

Since the library was quiet as always, I was able to hear my own phone vibrate in my backpack. I reached in there and took it out. It was a text from Hans.

_Here's a crazy idea, let's hang out_

I smiled at the thought of hanging out with Hans. It was a school night and all, but I didn't have anything important going on, so I saw no harm in it.

_Sure :)_

* * *

**A/N: You gotta love extreme slow burns. They make it all worth it in the end :) By the way sorry for taking so long and the 2 am update.**


	16. Chapter 16

_"The angles were all wrong now, she's ripping wings off of butterflies._

_Keep you feet on the ground when your head's in the clouds."_

_Brick By Boring Brick -Paramore_

* * *

My arms were sore. In fact, they have been that way all week long, just moving caused that terrible ache. And it was from carrying my Chemistry textbook around. I could have placed it in my backpack, but it was strain I didn't need back there, I remember an old teacher saying that I would regret it in old age. Or I could have placed it in my locker or leave it at home altogether like any sane person would, but that wasn't an option. At least for dumb me it wasn't.

I needed it with me at all times so I could study whenever and wherever I had free time. It hard since I had poor study habits to begin with. The textbook had become my new demanding best friend, I practically went to sleep with it. Whenever I felt like calling it quits, I would say "I must be successful." to myself. It helped motivate me enough to get through it. I couldn't fail this upcoming test, my grade was already on the line as it was. I've never failed a class before, so the very real possibility of it send butterflies to my stomach. The rational part of me said it wouldn't be the end of the world, but I wasn't listening to it. I've never failed a class before, and I wasn't about to start now. Especially in my senior year, I wanted to leave on a good note.

My friends were supportive, so that made things easier and it helped me calmed down, but not as much as I wished it would. Kristoff was very encouraging, thank god. Steve was helpful when he was around, I've never realized how smart he was until just recently, must be the glasses. And Marshall, being the ever supporting Marshall, would laugh and call me a loser whenever I opened my book, but was at least nice about it.

We were currently in the library, and of course, I had my nose in my book along with my journal trying to work out practice problems. It sure would be nice if my answers matched up with the answers in the back of the book. Much to my dismay, that only happened half the time. Marshall was sitting in front of me playing with her phone with her tongue sticking out in concentration and Kristoff was looking around the bookshelves for resources for our upcoming Government project. I should probably be there with him, since I had the same assignment, but I had to get through this first before I took on another challenge. I'll worry about that later.

"Hey Anna?", Marshall's voice broke through my concentration.

I resisted the urge to sigh. "Yeah?"

"Which do you like better?", She showed me her phone screen. There were two pictures of her side by side. One was of her pointing to the camera like Uncle Sam does in that WWII poster and the other was just a normal one of her with the peace sign. Based on the library's background, she had just taken them.

"Uh, I don't know.", I replied. "The second one maybe."

Marshall nodded. "You were supposed to say the first one, but okay. The second it is."

"Why do you ask?", I said, getting curious.

"Just updating my wallpaper.", She answered. "And yes.", She replied, knowing what I was about to say. "I like to look at myself whenever I turn on my phone. I'm self-centered like that."

I chuckled. "I wasn't gonna say self-centered.", I brought my face to my work again. Alright, no more distractions.

"Kristopher's such a dweeb sometimes.", Marshall snickered, breaking my concentration again.

"What's that?", I looked up and her gray eyes were staring across the room. I followed her gaze to see a girl talking to Kristoff. She seemed upset and angry. Kristoff's nervous self was trying to calm her down, but it was having the opposite results. Suddenly the girl's hand went up and flew across his face, his head turning with the force.

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt.", Marshall said as the side of his face turned red.

"You're telling me.", I brought a hand to the side of my own face, feeling an imaginary sting. The girl angrily stomped away, leaving Kristoff in a confuse daze.

Marshall turned back to me. "Must have fucked up badly, huh?"

"Yeah.", I agreed. _Poor Kristoff_, I thought to myself.

"Wouldn't be the first time his loser self struck out.", She said, but then added. "But then again I've never seen him get slapped like that."

"You're saying he can't talk to girls?", I asked surprised. It was hard to see that, he was a pretty easy going guy. To add on to this, he was the one who approached me when we first met.

"Kind of.", She shrugged and smirked. "Wait til he gets here, he won't hear the end of it."

I scoffed. "You're the one to talk."

"And what does that mean.", Marshall asked for clarification.

"Nothing.", I said. "Just recalling how you were afraid of talking to Jack. Like seriously, you of all people."

She sighed. "Okay, I'll admit to that, but it was different."

"Different how exactly.", I crossed my arms and gave her my undivided attention.

Marshall took a deep breath. "Well for one thing, I don't give a fuck if a boy or anybody for that matter likes me or not. But with Jack, believe or not, I actually cared what he thought of me, which is really weird for me." She stopped to take a breath. "But I learned he's cool, so all that nervousness and fear I had before is gone."

I was left speechless at that, this wasn't the Marshall I knew. "You should write a book.", I said after a while.

She smiled. "Never.", She smirked. "I'm more of a blog person. I go online and post random shit all the time. But there's this creep who's been asking way too many questions, so I'm laying low for a while."

"Gotta be careful with who you socialize with.", I agreed.

"Totally.", She agreed and her gray eyes brighten when she looked above my head. "And if only Kristoff would get over his little boy crush.", She said loudly. I should have been confused, but I knew she was just teasing the approaching Kristoff who had just come into hearing range.

"Oh shut up you.", Kristoff said and took a seat. "And for the record, I don't even like her."

"Whatever you say slappy.", Marshall joked. I tried to not laugh for the sake of saving him from further humiliation, and it was hard. Too hard.

"Oh, for the love of god! Seriously Marshall?", He said angrily. "I don't even know her."

"What were you doing talking to her then?", I asked, getting curious about what went on.

"I don't know, she came up to me and started asking weird questions." He sighed into his hands. "She asked if woman should be on birth control and I said sure. But then she accused me of saying that guys shouldn't have to. And I said no to that, so then she brought up that I was against Catholics and just religion in general and she kept twisting and putting words in my mouth.", He took a deep breath. "She got all angry and I tried to calm her down, but it only made it worse-", He sighed as to no longer talk about it.

"Sounds like a bitch to me.", Marshall remarked smiling.

"You don't know the half of it.", He grunted. "See, this is why I don't a lot of friends who are girls, they say one thing, but mean a totally different thing and read too much into little things. Just be straight forward, you know?"

"You're friends with Anna and she's a girl.", Marshall pointed out.

"Yeah, she's not bitchy like that.", Kristoff said bluntly with his big arms extended.

"Thank you?", It wasn't an insult, but still. Especially since he was always calm and collected. That girl must have really gotten under his skin. It must have been the slap that did it.

"Sorry.", He quickly apologized.

"What about me then.", Marshall asked pointing to herself.

"Oh please. We grew up together, you're like my sister.", Kristoff reasoned. "The annoying, smart-mouth one I would do good avoid."

"And you're like my loser brother, so it checks out.", She smirked in agreement.

He crossed his arms on his chest and smiled. "Then we have an understanding."

Something then crossed my mind. "You never told me how did you two meet?", I remembered Kristoff saying something about him and Steve going way back to kindergarten, but I've never thought to ask how Marshall came into the picture.

"Fourth grade I think.", Kristoff suddenly glared at Marshall as something crossed his mind. "You still haven't apologized!"

Marshall shrugged. "What does it matter? It's been years."

I sighed. "Do I even want to know what happened?"

"Yes you do.", Kristoff said. "Marshall pushed me off a swing while I was high in the air."

"Everyone knew I had a bit of a temper back then and you should have known better than to steal _my_ swing.", She replied with a hint of possessiveness, while focusing on her phone again.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised.", I murmured.

"Excuse me, but the school playground is a public place, your name wasn't even on it.", He countered and added. "And you weren't even there!"

Marshall looked up from her phone. "Had to use the little girl's room."

"You chased me all around, threatening to beat me up.", He said a bit loudly and turned to me. "Anna, I had climbed a tree to get away from her. The only reason, she didn't get up there was because she couldn't reach the bottom branch."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Really?"

Her cheeks redden. "My little brother Olaf was a cute toddler at the time. I felt like the fourth wheel in the family.", She tried to explain. "Can you blame me for being a bitch all the time?"

"I got stuck up there and they had to call the fire department to get me down.", Kristoff added.

Marshall sighed. "Which is why I think you'll make an excellent firefighter."

"It was humiliating!", He argued.

"You were in the news, and you were on the front page in the Arendelle Tribute. Your popularity scored after that, not to mention you stopped being that shy brat.", She sounded annoyed. "If you asked me, I did you a favor!"

Kristoff looked about ready to commit murder right then and there. "Why you-"

"Okay!", I loudly cut him off. "How about we talk about we talk about something else instead."

"Finally!", Marshall said with a breath of relief.

"We're not done here.", Kristoff grunted with crossed arms.

"Kristopher, it's been seven-", She began.

"Eight.", He cut her off.

"Seven, eight years.", She rolled her eyes. "Kristoff, get over it already. We were dumb kids."

"Speak for yourself.", He murmured.

"I don't understand how you guys are still friends.", I said honestly.

The both of them were silent and stared at each other confused. It appeared to me they weren't so sure either.

"Didn't you start following Steve and I after that?", Kristoff asked and scratched the back of his head. "I don't remember too much."

"If I recall correctly, kickball was a thing the year after.", Marshall said thoughtfully. "You and Steve happened to be in the same team as me."

"Oh yeah.", He hit the back of his blond head. "I remember now, we-",

He was cut off the sound of the bell ringing. I finally took notice of the fact that everyone else had left for class already and we were the only ones left in the library. I sighed as I looked down at my uncompleted work.

"Shit.", I face palmed myself.

"It's just Chemistry, Anna.", Marshall waved it off. "You'll forget all about it when we get out of here."

"Yeah, but my grade won't.", I murmured as I gathered all my things. "See you later.", With that, I left without another word. I might have been a bit rude, but the stress was getting to me. It was only a matter of time before the white streak in my hair got whiter.

* * *

I felt stupid as I walked up the empty stairs to the third floor. I was probably the last one to class. Again. It had been this way all week long. Mr. Oaken was nice about it, but I was pretty sure he was getting sick of it. It was miracle he hadn't called me out on it already.

I walked in class all out of breath from getting here and was immediately grateful that I had gotten here before the teacher. That meant that, unless someone ratted me out, I was on time. I quickly took my seat at the back of the class and let out of breath of relief. At least back here I wasn't distracted much, so I was able to focus more.

"Ha ha Anna's late again.", I heard Duke Weselton's annoying and squeaky voice. Puberty was hitting him hard, that was for sure.

"Can it Duke.", Some guy yelled at him. "Least she knows what you do in the stalls with Ms. Connors' picture!"

Everyone burst out laughing, and frankly, so did I. It wasn't everyday someone told him off and lately, he's been all over my case. Poking his pointy nose into my business. I dropped hints that he should leave me alone, but he was too dense to catch them. That or he just ignored them.

"Shut the fuck up man!", He shouted back.

"Yeah, take your own advice for next time!", He said back and Duke's whole face flushed at the double meaning.

By the time Mr. Oaken had come, everyone had quieted down. That was good. He was a good teacher, he deserved that much. He quickly started passing out today's assignment, which was another review sheet. I was annoyed by the extra work, but heaven knew I needed all the practice and help I could get. Especially now that I only had a day to prepare.

My eyes drifted to the empty seat next to me. In the last couple days, Elsa had been terribly late as well. My theory was that it had something to do with that mysterious caller since she always came in with her phone in hand, but with no earphones like she used to. If she wasn't using it for music, then chances were she was possibly contacting someone with it. To whom, I had no clue. Mr. Oaken kept giving her warnings about her tardiness, but all she did was nod. It could be said she didn't care, but that wouldn't be right. Careless wouldn't fit. Maybe the word for her is distracted. Most of the time, it was like she wasn't all there.

I looked up at the clock in front of the classroom, she should be coming any second now. As if on cue, the door slowly opened and the said platinum blonde walked in. I took note of her dark gray sweater, she always wore clothing that covered her from the neck down. You would think we had cold weather in Arendelle just by looking at her. The blazing heat outside begged to differ, though Steve had mentioned we might get some rain pretty soon.

Without another word, she took her seat next to mine. It was safe to say I was used her usual silence by now, however, that never stopped me. "What's your excuse?", I quietly asked.

She turned her blue eyes to me and shrugged boringly.

I smiled at the norm. "Try telling that to Mr. Oaken."

Elsa give a tired sigh, this wouldn't fly with Mr. Oaken again, and she knew it.

"Miss Macbeth.", The teacher called. Elsa looked up. Based on what I've observed over time, he was one of the few teachers who could get more reactions out of Elsa. "Can you come get today's handout."

With a nod, she slowly got up and headed to the front of the classroom. All eyes were on her and I felt kind of bad of her. Though it was just a guess, I was under the assumption she didn't like attention.

As she was heading back, I saw what the little weasel Duke was planning. Sitting at the end of the middle, he was in prefect position to stick his little foot out, and I saw that he already had it out. I smirked at the futility of it. No way Elsa was falling for that. Her blue eyes were downcast, so there was no way that would go unnoticed.

But boy was I wrong. She fell for it. Literary. Elsa landed on the hard floor with a loud thud that echoed against the walls.

"Stand much?", Duke sneered quietly at her. That fucking asshole, I felt like getting up and punching him right then and there. I didn't care if I got suspended. If it meant getting that stupid grin off his face, then it'll be totally worth it.

While controlling myself, my attention shifted back to the blonde to see if she was alright. It was moments like these that made me wish she was easier to read. Her face was a blank as the day in the cafeteria with Abby doing what she wanted with her. Maybe this was like some sort of defense system she had developed over time to cope with things like these. That was a possibility, right?

Mr. Oaken, being his caring self, rushed over to her aid. "You alright dear?"

Elsa looked up and nodded yes.

He wasn't convinced though. "You wanna step out, dear? It's okay if you do."

She shook her head, Mr. Oaken felt bad for her falling. Guilty even, since he had her stand up to get the worksheet in the first place. If only he knew it was stupid Duke's fault, I've never seen him angry and frankly I couldn't imagine a teacher as sweet as him angry. I should probably report this or at least do something about it, least Duke became the next Abby and start tormenting Elsa. I wasn't gonna stand by this again.

Under Mr. Oaken concern eyes, Elsa wasn't gonna ease his worry unless she directly said it. It was rare for her to talk, so her words meant a lot more than the average person.

"I'm fine.", Elsa said quietly and a couple other students gasped and started murmuring among themselves. It was easy to forget her lack of words when I heard her on a daily bases.

"Okay, if you say so.", Mr. Oaken said uncertainly. He offered her his big hand to pull her up. Elsa's face tensed for a fraction of a second, but it quickly disappeared and she placed her gloved hand on his like it was no big deal.

As I watched on, an unpredictable sense of envy came over me at the scene. The first time we met, I was so distracted that I didn't see her in the way and I had pushed the both of us down. I had offered her my hand to pull her up, and she rudely rejected it. I shook my head as if it help to get it out. Me feeling this way was stupid and ridiculous. After all, Mr. Oaken was literary the nicest teacher I've ever had, so it makes sense she doesn't reject him like that. Plus he's an adult, you have to be respectful. Maybe this was due to lack of sleep, I wasn't getting my usual eight to nine hours these days. I was all out of balance for sure.

"Alright class.", Mr. Oaken's voice brought me back to reality from my head. "Let's continue today's review..."

My ears tuned him out right at that. He was great teacher, but Chemistry wasn't my thing. Thus why I needed help in here in the first place. I glanced over at Elsa next to me, who was writing notes with a blue pen on her paper, and then back to where she was tripped. She shouldn't have fallen. Her eyes were right on the foot. I knew my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. My lips quivered as I did my to keep my mouth shut, but I quickly gave up on it. The curiosity wasn't gonna go anywhere, I might will just ask her.

"Why did you let him trip you?", I tired to not be so blunt, but it came out exactly like that. I mentally face-palmed myself.

Elsa shrugged, but continued writing with her blue pen. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't deny it.", I sigh in annoyance, my patience wearing thin with what had happened and my utter lack of patience. "You saw his foot out, but you decided to fall for it anyway."

"Now why would I do that?", She glanced at me, but turned back to her work.

"I've been asking myself that since I met you.", I whispered back.

"And I you.", She said quietly, her writing slowed down, but didn't stop. "Maybe my mind was somewhere else.", She suggested.

Was she admitting it? "Didn't look like it to me."

With her face of concentration, she she stopped her writing altogether. It took her a long minute to put it into words. "What does it matter anyway?"

Did she seriously just say that? "Are you serious?", I asked bewailed, not waiting for her to answer, I went on. "It matters because you just let an asshole trip you.", I reminded her yet again of it. "I fail to understand why."

I waited for her answer, but she stay quiet as thinking about what she was gonna say next. Maybe I would finally get an answer for once.

"You talk a lot.", She said and there went the little hope I had left.

I placed my head on the table in defeat. Elsa wasn't gonna talk. The determination is strong in this one. "You've been talking a lot well."

"Well...", She sighed tiredly. "You make not wanting to talk harder everyday."

I smirked. "Are you admitting defeat."

"The last time I admitted defeat, my heart stopped.", She said quietly.

"I hate giving up too.", I agreed without another thought. "Actually, this one time, I-", I was going to tell her about the time my sister had challenged me to a race up the stairs in out building. I had agreed to it because I didn't want to back down. I won, but my left arm was in a bright orange cast the next day for a couple weeks. But I didn't get to tell it. I was talking too loudly and Mr. Oaken wasn't fond of it, not that I blamed him.

"Miss Anderson, please pay attention.", Mr. Oaken's voice cut me off and heat went straight to my face. All the eyes on me didn't help.

"Yeah, shut up Anna.", Duke squeaked a couple rows away. "No body wants to hear you ramble, especially with the mute!"

_Why, that son of a bitch_. I thought in my head.

"Mr. Weselton, please.", The teacher said, and he blushed in both anger and embarrassment. But it wasn't enough, I still wanted to kill him. A look of guilt passed over Elsa's face because of what had just transpired.

"This kind of thing happens to me all the time.", I mentioned to ease her guilt.

"I find that hard to believe.", She murmured with a hint of sarcasm.

I was gonna focus on my work again until I remembered I still wasn't finish with her just yet. "You still haven't answered my question.", I reminded her. I so wasn't gonna let her escape it.

Elsa shrugged again. "You do realize you're wasting your breath, right?"

And she just escaped it. "You're a stinker, you know that?"

"I'm aware.", She nodded and continued back to her notes. This signaled conversation was over.

All that left to do now was get through this boring lecture. Too bad my mind was on Elsa' eyes facing Duke's foot, I couldn't do my work now if I tried. I sighed. The world may never know.

* * *

"Anderson!", Mr. Smith's voice boomed at me as I finished my final lap around the track. He should stop yelling so much. He was standing right in front of me, I wasn't deaf.

"Yeah?", I said.

"Run faster next time.", He said and went on to yell at another poor kid.

It was just a bad running day for me, for everyone actually. We had been running all week long and my legs weren't yet used to the ache it brought every time. Mr. Smith needed to get over this whole wall painting thing. If he kept this up, he will be at the top of the teachers I hated, beating Mr. Gold who so far was the undefeated champion. I've said this once and I'll say it again. I hate running, it was the most awful thing ever. And to think there's crazy people out there who do this for fun. That was one of the few things I would never understand no matter how hard I tried.

Off the distance, I saw Steve looking at my face as he approached me. I tired to smile, but I wasn't able to. "My mother once told me that if I had kept a sour face like the one you have on right now, it would get stuck like that forever and no one would ever like me."

"Ha ha.", I said sarcastically and then cleared my dry throat. "My mother said the same thing."

"And I see you're not following the advice.", He snickered playfully.

I rolled my eyes. "Like you do everything they tell you."

He shrugged and sat on the grass. "You got me there."

I went and sat next to him. It was nice, but I could practically feel my calves painfully throbbing. Fuck this, I thought and did my best to ignore it. "So how was detention? Was it as awful as Marshall said it would be?"

He smiled and shook his head. "Marshall is a drama queen, I played cards with some of the other students and now I'm five bucks richer."

"Huh, maybe I should go in there sometime.", Then something came to mind. "Wait, isn't gambling illegal?"

"I don't know. Maybe.", Steve shrugged. "Doesn't matter because Mr. Lincoln says otherwise.", He gave a warm laugh that reached me.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled. "Okay."

"Listen up maggots!", Mr. Smith yelled from across field. "I'm not giving up on finding out who ever vandalized school property. So watch yourselves!", His face flushed in anger. "Dismissed."

I should have been happy about finally be able to leave this wretched heat, but I was hit with laziness. The cool grass was too comfortable for me to just leave too soon.

"School is over, so you could technically stay here if you wanted to.", Steve said after reading my face yet again.

"Want to carry me?", I asked half-heartly.

"Anna, no offense, but my noodle arms won't be about to lift you.", He said and extended his long skinny arms to prove his point. I couldn't help but admire that natural golden tan that I could never pull off. Especially with how my freckles got in the way. They get darker with the sun, so it was unavoidable.

"I'm gonna lay back for while.", I said.

He smiled brightly. "Alright, bye. Don't go missing, okay."

"Not planning to.", I said smiling. Everyone was sill talking about Saul's great disappearing act, but I didn't bother with it. They had convinced me he would turn up soon, so I was counting on it.

I watched Steve leave along with the other boys. Steve's shaggy brown hair stood out, especially with his height. He wasn't incredibly tall, but he towered over the others in comparsion.

I turned away to the sound of Mr. Smith angry murmuring and scribing something into his click board. I wanted to laugh, but I didn't want to get on his bad side. A P.E. teacher's wrath was no joke, they have the power to make you run even more laps. He stopped when he saw me.

"What are you still doing here Anderson?", He asked sourly.

"Just resting.", I answered.

He smirked. "Good for you.", He continued on and was soon out sight. Now I was all alone out here in the track, it was actually pretty peaceful out here. Maybe I'll add this to the list of possible happy places. I wanted to relax a bit longer and I would have, but I had somewhere to be. I regrettably got up and headed back.

The girl's locker room was nearly empty when I entered. There were a couple girls leaving, and others entering, most likely involved in the sports programs Arendelle South High had to offer. At my locker, I quickly changed into my street clothes and was on my way out when I came face to face with locks of bright red hair.

Identical teal eyes mirrored my own in shock. We stood there for what felt like hours, when it couldn't have been more than seconds. She was the first to break out of it.

"What are you doing here?", Alice's tone was accusing and I did not like it.

Believe it or not, she was sill pissed. "I could ask you the same thing."

"None of your damn business, that's what.", She said angrily crossing her arms.

"Can you over your damn pity party already?", I was getting upset as well. I hated that she was still sore about the whole me leaving to the party thing. When she wasn't giving me the silent treatment, she was being a total bitch. It was getting ridiculous. "I said I was sorry a million times already."

She scoffed with glaring eyes. "A million is just a number that means nothing."

I so wanted to kill her in that moment, but I needed to keep it under control. It wouldn't be the first time we've fought, you can't have sibling without ever fighting, even if it was just the two of us. But that didn't mean I was used to it, I never could and I knew she couldn't either. Being the older one, I knew it was on me to at least try to be the grown up around here. Even if Alice was being the unreasonable one. "I'll pick you up later.", I said and walked around her.

She didn't say anything, but I knew it was taking a tremendous amount of will power for her to keep her mouth shut. That was another trait we shared. Though I was glad I didn't have to hear it, a part of me was disappointed. I couldn't explain it.

With a shrug, I pushed it to the back of my mind. I had more important to focus on right now. I had a dumb Chemistry test to study for. So I should deal with her after school tomorrow or maybe on the upcoming weekend, depending on how things went. Not the perfect plan, but a plan was better than nothing.

Satisfied with that at least, I turned the corner of the hallway to see Elsa leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. I looked at her curiously. I could only think of one reason for this. It was that she had cancel on me today without telling, so she was waiting for her brother Jack right now and I just happened to be in the same place as her. This wasn't good, at least for me it wasn't.

As much as I didn't want to face it, I approached her. "What's up?"

She shook her head, her blonde locks waving slightly on her head. "Nothing."

"Okay.", I said awkwardly. "You gonna uh… have other plans?"

Elsa shook her head again.

"Then...", I tried to coaxed more out of her before this got even more awkward.

Her eyes trailed down to the floor. I noticed her taking a deep breath before she spoke. "I thought it would be nice if I waited."

"Waited for what?", Call me dense all you want, but I was confused.

"For uh...", Her soft voice faded, but then she cleared throat loudly. "You."

"You?", I repeated, and then it hit me. "Oh. You mean me-", I face-palmed myself. "That makes more sense than what I was thinking."

"What were you thinking exactly.", The curiosity getting the best of her.

"Nothing.", Probably for the best I didn't tell her. It'll probably hurt her feelings, if that even possible. Abby's punches didn't bring her down, so what would words do? "Why don't we get going then?"

Elsa nodded in agreement and we walked down to the library together. She didn't say anything, not that she needed to. I was fine with it.

"You're right.", I told her as entered the room. She didn't say it, but her questioning eyes did. "Waiting for me, it was nice of you. Didn't know you even did nice.", I chuckled, but then realized it was kind of an insult. "Not you're mean or anything, just wasn't expecting this you know."

"I understand.", She nodded and we sat at our usual table in the back. I found it cute that Elsa was trying to be nice. It was a good change from the norm.

I opened my textbook and was in the middle of taking my notes out when a pair of hands unexpectedly covered my eyes, darkening my vision.

"Guess who?", A familiar male voice teasingly asked.

"Hans!", I said happily as he let go of my eyes.

"That's right.", He chuckled and wrapped his strong arms around my shoulders from behind. "I though I would find you here."

"And you thought correctly.", I chuckled in agreement. "What are you brings you here?"

"Do I need an excuse to see the most gorgeous girl in school?", He asked and I shook my head. "But I do have one though."

I chuckled when his breath tickled my right ear. "And what that might that be?"

"I want to take you out right now.", Hans replied with a huge smile that just suited his face.

"Right now?", I asked.

"We could go later, but I don't want you getting home late.", He said. "Your mother would skin me alive."

"I wouldn't put it like that.", I said, though I knew exactly how my mother was. "I don't know Hans, there's this test tomorrow-"

"You've been studying all week. You need a break.", He voice was so sweet. "If you don't take time for yourself, for us, you're gonna break down. Trust me, I've been there."

I sighed, thinking about it. He was right to some extent. I've been stressing about this all week, and I knew it wasn't healthy. The educational system had a way of breaking students down. "You make a valid case.", I murmured as he sat next on the empty chair next to me, taking my hands in his own.

"Of course I do.", He planted a kiss on my knuckles like I was some sort of princess, I wish, and I could have just melted right there. "So what do you say?"

"I don't know.", This was so hard to decide.

"Please come with me.", He pleaded with brilliant green eyes. It suddenly got even harder to decide. My eyes shifted between my boring notes, to his handsome face, and back and forth. His fingers were suddenly massaging the sides of my head, it felt nice. Too nice even, I was dazed by it. "You're so much smarter than you give yourself cited for, I'm certain you'll do fine. Trust me."

"Okay.", It was so hard to breathe, the air felt too thick. Was it always this way? It was worse when his lips were suddenly on mine. My lips were on fire, it felt good, too good! Before it could get out of hand, I pulled away. "Give me a minute.", I breath out.

"I'll wait outside.", He kissed on the nose and he was out of sight a bit too soon for my taste.

I heard a throat being cleared and then I remembered Elsa was right in front of me, a front row seat to everything. Harsh heat overtook my face, I was sure my freckles stood out against my skin.

"I'm so sorry you had to see that.", I said quickly to ease my embarrassment, but it didn't work one bit.

"I'm sorry too.", Elsa said shaking her head in what I thought was disbelief.

"What are you thinking?", I asked. "Should I go?", I knew I had agreed to Hans and I had every intention of leaving, but for one reason or another, I still wanted her input.

She shook her head. "I would never mani- talk you into anything.", She stumbled on words, like she was about to say something else. That was a first, but I didn't think much of it. My head was somewhere else.

I took her words into meaning that it was the same to her either way. Figures as much. "I'll see you tomorrow then.", I said while putting away my notes.

"You will.", She said nodding and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Slight guilt entered my mind, but pushed it with the thought of Elsa not minding it. Why would she? She never does, she lets a weasel trip her for no reason, so this shouldn't make a difference. Besides, this is a one time thing. I needed to go unwind before I went crazy and Hans was perfect for this. He knew how to lighten my day. He always did.

"Bye.", I said smiling. I closed my book and began to make my way out.

"Goodbye Anna.", She said, almost sadly, but I didn't pick that up. As I neared the exit door, I shivered at the coldness that suddenly over came the room. Damn that AC again.

* * *

**A/N: *sighs. Sorry for delaying this. Some stuff happened, and I gave up on this and many other things. I might have had a case of depression, but I plainly don't want to go there. Anyway I'm here now, so updates should start happening again depending on how things fly out. If you noticed the user name change, don't worry about it. I'm still me. And if you're reading this, thanks for sticking around, I really do mean that.**

**Peace out.**


	17. Chapter 17

"_When I'm scared, losing ground, when my world_

_is going crazy, you can turn it all around"_

_I Turn to You -Christina Aguilera_

* * *

I burst my eyes open from sleep and I was meant with the sight of the usual mess of a room. I didn't know how this had come about. I had cleaned my room just three nights ago, and already, it was chaos. I had a hamper, I still had random clothes thrown all over the place ranging from shirts, pants, socks, and occasional under garments that should never be within viewing eyes.

I rolled to lay on my back and looked over to my equally messy desk. There were books opened to pages I had skimmed through and sheets of paper filled with messy notes I didn't understand myself. They were utterly useless and unhelpful. But this was nothing compared to the ink I had accidentally spilled over my homework. My black pen had broken down on me last night and inked all over the same way an octopus would. I guess it was one of those nights where everything that could go wrong unfortunately goes wrong.

There was only one thing puzzling me. It was the fact that I didn't remember going to bed. The last thing I could recall was reading from my Chemistry in my pathetic attempt to absorb the information. I guess this meant I had fallen asleep. And if that was the case, then it meant that my mother had put me in bed the night before. I sighed. This hardly ever happened, but when it did, it was usually during the week of finals. That's when I go into serious study mode. And if I had this going on right now, then I might be in serious trouble.

A hard knock then came from my door and I remembered why I had woken up in the first place. I didn't need to see the time to know it was early. It was darker in here than usual. About maybe an hour earlier, I would have checked the time in my phone, but I wasn't fond of its brightness this early in the morning. The knock came again even harder and louder. They were practically banging on the door.

I knew exactly who it was and it made me angry because they knew better. Sometimes if I didn't get my sleep, I could be as cranky as hell. I got up and stomped my way over to the door. I unlocked it and swung the door wide open. "What?!"

Alice's teal eyes widen with fear and took a half a step back. I could see that she thought I was crazy, and to be honest, I certainly looked the part. In fact I imagined myself looking like the Bride of Frankenstein. I had nasty dried drool around my chin, and an oversize white T-shirt with the words _ROAR_ printed on them. And my gravity defying mess of hair just sealed the deal, it was like a boiler exploded on my head.

She blinked and quickly snapped out of it. "I've been knocking for the past ten minutes."

"Why?", That was the only thought that came to mind. "Is a little sleep too much to ask for?"

My sister rolled her eyes and ignored my comment. "Just hurry up and get me to school, okay.", I gave her a questioning look to which she shook her head. "Like I'll tell you.", Again with that accusing tone I hate.

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. "Have fun walking to school then", I was closing the door when she stuck her foot out.

"Wait, don't do that.", She pushed the door opened.

"Then what's your little excuse this time around?", I demanded. I knew I was being a total bitch, but I've just about had with her all week.

Alice sighed in frustration. "I'm meeting up with my friend Diana.",She reluctantly admitted, but that wasn't gonna cut it. "Look Anna, just take me and don't ask why."

I sigh tiredly, making up my mind. "Give me ten minutes.", With that, I closed the door on her. I wanted to say no, but I also wanted to patch things up with my sister despite the fact that I wanted to kill her. But either way, I still wanted to at least get in her good side. I think I can put up with her bullshit a little longer before I called it quits.

I quickly found an outfit that consisted of jeans and a dark green blouse, and was now on my way to the bathroom to tame my wild hair. Untangling used to be painful when I was a kid, but I grown used to it. Since I wasn't sure what to do with my hair, I brided it into two pigtails. It's been while since the last time I had styled my hair that way so it felt nice, plus it was a fast process. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I was back in my room tying my shoes. I usually followed the lazy rule of just slipping my foot in, but the laces had become undone. After putting everything I knew I would need in my backpack, I was heading down the stairs with my textbook in hand.

It reeked of coffee when I got downstairs. Alice was sitting on the kitchen counter with her coffee mug in hand. I half expected my mother to be down here as well, but she had left early this morning. She sometimes did that to give her extra time to organized her work area in the office or to get a headstart on the morning traffic.

"Let's go.", I said to her and grabbed the bag of poptarts sitting on the table. I smiled unconsciously when I saw it was chocolate flavored. With my sister following me, I grabbed the keys hanging by the front door. I used to keep them in my room, but I kept losing them, so now I just hang them there.

It wasn't cold outside, but it was cooler than usual. We were approaching the fall season, so this was to be expected. If I remembered correctly Arendelle was the type of place that experienced snowstorms. I smiled at the thought of a snow in the front lawn. I had always wanted to see snow and build a snowman or two because I've never done it. So I was happy to say I was looking forward to the coming winter. It would be a new and pleasant experience.

Alice was walking beside me, and her coffee suddenly looked very appealing. Being low on energy, I should have been drinking that stuff everyday. But it just didn't sit well with me, I was the type of person who crashed down after it wore off. But my sister drank it everyday like a champ and did not crash down. The only drawback with her was that she could be a nightmare to be around if she missed her daily caffeine dose.

"Here.", She suddenly said, passing me her drink. She must had noticed me staring at it for too long.

Without much thought, I automatically grabbed it and took a huge swing from it. _That's th__e good __stuff_, I thought to myself as the warm liquid went down my throat. Alice had a thing for vanilla coffee creamer, so the overall taste was sweet.

"Don't drink all of it.", She complained annoyingly.

I rolled my eyes. Knowing it would tick her off, I took another sip before handing it back. "Thanks.", I murmured while wiping any remains off my lips.

Alice pursed her lips in annoyance and nodded. Good to see she was trying to be a decent sister this morning, but I knew it was only because I was her ride to school. She would go back to her bitchy self as soon as I dropped her off so I should enjoy it while it lasted.

The ride to school was awkward. The only difference today was that it wasn't as intense as last couple of days where Alice would glare at me the entire way. I wasn't really intimated by it, but it was still unnerving. And worse, she kept flipping through the radio stations and blasting songs that had to do with betrayal and distrust. This whole week alone, I had become well aware of at least seven hits. And to think I thought Elsa was annoying when I first her, I should have been worried about my sister this whole time.

So far, the only real perk to driving early was the lack of traffic. Normally the roads were jammed pack with cars of all sizes and students jaywalking casually in front of speeders. I nearly had a heart attack the other day when a girl walked into the road completely focusing into her phone with a car racing by. The only thing that prevented the would be disaster was the foot of space in front of her. The car practically flew right in front of her and the crazy part was that she didn't even notice it. Her life could have ended that day, and she didn't even know it. I didn't know which was more bizarre.

When I dove into school, I slowly parked into my usual spot. My favorite thing about this certain spot was that nobody else went here. The other thing I liked was that by the time school was over, the shade would be covering it, so it wouldn't as hot as it could be inside. I felt sorry for the other suckers who had leather seats, the heat would have their butts melting. As soon as I turned the ignition off, Alice was out and about.

_Okay __that fast_, I thought to myself. I shrugged and looked on, the school looked deserted. There were a couple cars towards the corner, but I think area was for teachers only. I took out my phone to distract myself, but I quickly gave up on that. Nobody was online. They were probably waking right about now. It made me bitter because that was something I would be doing and doing slowly.

Quickly getting bored with just sitting in the car, I decided to just go walk around. Maybe get to know the school a little better. Just the other day I discovered we had a computer lab classroom, not that I needed it anytime soon, but it was still good to know.

I was closing the doors to my car when I heard screeching tires. I turned around to see a very familiar gray mini van making a sharp turn, nearly flipping over from the looks of it. It was like they thought they were Speed Racer or something. Not caring about the speed bumps put there for a reason, it flew over them. It then smoothly parked a couple spots away.

I walked over to it. I didn't know that Marshall came this early to school.

"Anna!", Marshall screamed in delight at seeing me. She quickly got out of her van. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming? I would have totally let you in on this!"

"In on what exactly?", I asked curiously.

"Yeah!", A little boy's voice could be heard from the van. The door opened and out came Marshall's little brother Olaf. I laughed at the sight of him. He was wearing bright blue elbow and knee pads, but this was nothing compared to the two pillows that were tied to his back and front. To top it all up, his head was concealed by a forest green football helmet that was way too big. The only thing I could say was that he looked adorable in his little get up.

I turned to Marshall in laughter. "What's this?!"

She laughed as well. "If you're gonna race, you gotta look the part and a little bit of safety helps as well.", She reached for the helmet her little brother was wearing and threw it to me. Upon closer inspection, it had the school mascot. "By way I "borrowed" Kristoff's helmet about a month ago without telling him, don't rat me out."

I chuckled. "Sure thing.", I said and handed it back to her. "So you were racing."

"Yup.", Marshall casually. "I'm very competitive with it comes to this."

"And we won!", Olaf cheered happily.

I smiled at his adorable face. "And you brought your brother?"

"I'm not just gonna leave him alone at home Anna.", She replied rolling her eyes. "That's just reckless."

Before I say anything to that, Olaf ran to me, handing me a blue envelope. "Anna, I want you to come to my party. It's going to be really fun."

I smiled at his pleading pale blue eyes. "Sure. How old are you turning?"

"This much!", He held up all his fingers. "Ten."

I scrunched up my face in confusion and turned to his sister. "I thought you said he was already ten."

Marshall shrugged. "Nine's a dumb number, so I rounded up. Ten's way better."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course you-"

I was cut off by the sound of a small black Honda flying past the speed bumps. I got a glance of ruffled light brown hair through the one of the windows. Of course she talked Jack into racing, he was the type for excitement. He slowed down and parked next to the van.

"Damn it Marshall!", Jack said getting out with an annoyed expression. "You cheated!"

"Did not!", She smirked. "Not my fault my mini van won."

The color pink quickly rose to his cheeks. "Whatever."

"So what was the wager?", I knew Marshall would race for fun's sake, that would be too boring for her. The same thing went for Jack.

Marshall smirked evilly and turned to Jack who quickly looked away. "Why don't you tell her Frosty?"

Jack groaned and sighed. "I have to take Marshall to this movie theater that just opened up. They play movies that have been out since forever.", He explained. "I was saying we should go, but we couldn't agree on a movie."

"Keep going.", Marshall encouraged when he stopped.

"Instead of watching cool Scarface or Rambo, I'm gonna have to sit through Evil Dead.", He said with arms crossed. "And to add insult to injury, it's in 3-D."

"You're forgetting the best part of it.", Marshall looked like she could happily die right now.

Jack gave her a dark look, but that did nothing to faze her. "And I have to get her whatever overpriced snack she wants from the counter.

"Just letting you know, I'm high maintenance.", Marshall said laughing.

Jack rolled his eyes. "But I'm gonna win next time, you'll see."

"Sure you will.", She dismissed him and turned to me. "Steve and Kristopher are coming as well, it'll be like a group thing. So you better come."

"I'll think about it.", I said, not sure if I was up for it. I wanted sleep when I get home and plus my sister had said Evil Dead is gory, and I'm not really for that.

"Yeah, you don't have a choice Anna.", Marshall said seriously. "I'm not gonna be the only girl in the group, so I'll drag you out if I have to."

The way she looked at me, I knew she was dead serious. "I'll give it an extra thought then."

"Good.", She turned to Jack's grumpy face and sighed. "They're playing Rambo and Scarface all night long, if you're up for it-"

"Yes!", Jack didn't let her finish. "We're staying there all night if we have too, I bet you I stay up longer."

"Oh please, I can stay up for days.", Marshall laughed.

"It's so on.", Jack said laughing as well.

It was amusing to see them, maybe Marshall's crazy personality was beginning to rub off on Jack. That, or Jack was just as crazy as her and I had failed to see that when i first met him.

"Can I see Evil Dead too?", Olaf asked innocently.

Marshall smiled gently and put the helmet back on his head. "How about I take you see The Lorax?"

His black brows furrowed. "Is it the same?"

"It's identical, you can't tell the difference.", She just lied, but this was what they called a good lie. "Go get in the van, I'll take you to school now."

"Okay!", He smiled and ran to get back in the backseat of the van.

Marshall opened the door and turned to Jack and I. "Gotta take the little devil now. See you later."

"Can I join you?", Jack asked and wrinkled his nose in the direction of the school. "I don't wanna be here yet."

Marshall smiled. "Yeah, just letting you know, I'm gonna be late."

"My teacher's always late anyway.",He said dismissively and climbed in the front seat.

"See you later Anna.", She waved and pulled out of the school way too fast.

I smiled at the sight of them leaving and went inside the school. There were a couple students in already, mostly freshmen since the majority of them rode the buses. They always get her early and I pitied them for it. They didn't get to sleep as much as I usually did. It was sightly colder than usual, but I assumed that to be a result of being here early.

Not having anywhere to be, I went to my locker. I figured I'll just find a way to entertain myself there until classes start or until someone I knew showed up. I had a couple games in my phone, but they don't excite me like they used to. I could could have maybe be productive and use the time to study for my Chemistry test. But it was useless, especially this early in the morning. I'll settle for cramming during lunch. Again. I sure hoped this didn't become a routine for every time I had an test.

When I turned the corner, I saw Elsa sitting on on one of the windows stills. She was resting her head on her knees while looking out the window. Her 19 was bright white on her dark blue hoodie. Blue always seemed to bring out her pale complexion. Her platinum blonde hair seemed brighter, except her her black tips and the sunlight coming from the window almost made her glow.

"Hey Elsa.", I said when I was near her, but she didn't seem to notice my presence. With a face of concentration, her eyes were blankly staring into the window. "You alright?"

She slowly blinked and snapped out of her daze, but there was a certain sadness that lingered here. "Never better."

I gave her a look of skepticism. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head in response. "It...", She started but thinking better of it, stopped. "Nothing important."

"Elsa.", I said sighing. "Keeping to yourself isn't a good habit, you know?"

Elsa shook her head and gave a chuckle that had no humor in it. "Funny how everyone keeps saying that."

"Well...", I tried to think of something to say. "Maybe it's because they're right. But I'm righter of course."

"Of course.", She repeated and twisted her mouth in thought. "Well, if you must know, someone I used to know passed away last night."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. This was news for sure. "Who?"

She shrugged. "A friend of a friend, I didn't really know her."

I sat in front of her. "Okay, what happened?"

"With all she went through, she was too sad for her own good. At least until she did something about it.", Her tone changed a tad darker and I understood what she was implying. She shook her head. "I rather not talk about it."

I nodded understandingly. "How are you feeling."

She shrugged again like it was no big deal. Maybe this was her way of dealing with it. "Mainly shock."

"I'm sorry.", I really wanted to do was hug her, but I've gathered that she wasn't the physical contact type and most certainly, not the hugging type.

"I'll be fine.". She said quietly as she leaned her head against the window, the corner of her eyes staring at her reflection. "I just hope the others take it well."

"Others?", I said confused and her eyes trailed back to me.

"I was someone else before I moved here, you know.", Elsa said as if it was obvious.

I felt heat rush to my face for no reason. Actually maybe it was because it really was obvious. "Right.", I understood where she came from. I had friends before I moved to Arendelle at the beginning of the summer. "Me too, but we drifted away even though we promised we wouldn't."

"It happens.", She said. "They like to make sure I'm still here."

I knew it was mean to think this, but I could never imagine Elsa socializing with others. I guess I always pictured her I her old home the same way I saw her here. Alone. But I starting to see I was terribly wrong. Elsa really was someone else before she came here. "Are they the ones who's been calling you lately?", I asked.

Judging from the surprised expression, I knew I caught her off guard with it, but she quickly accepted it. "You pay attention good.", Too bad it wasn't a definite answer. "Do want me to help you study during lunch?", She changed the topic of conversation. I didn't mind it as much as I should have.

"Thanks, but I think I got it.", I tried to gently reject her. In reality, I didn't have it under control, but that was my own fault for deciding to hang out with Hans. I didn't want her wasting her time for something I did to myself. Besides, she was kind of being forced to help me by the school. I didn't think she really meant it, so maybe it was best to not impose.

"If you say so.", She replied with a sad tone, but I knew it wasn't from this. I nodded and made a move to get up before my butt got numb from sitting. Unfortunately, I failed to notice a skateboard, Elsa's skateboard, right below my feet. I stepped right on it and slipped horribly with the board flying away to the other side of the long hall.

"Ow!", I yelped when I landed on my butt, I was definitely not getting numb down there anymore. To think I would be used to this sort of thing by now. I've fallen more times than I could count.

"Sorry about that.", Elsa apologized as she looked down at me.

"It's fine.", I said as I tried the will the pain on my butt away. "Gravity just hates me."

Elsa had the face of a person who wanted to laugh chose not to. "I've noticed."

"Yeah.", I said as I pushed myself up. "I'll go get your board.", I looked at the end of the hall, but it was no where in sight. "Where did it go?"

"Around the corner.", Elsa answered and got up, pulling her backpack over her shoulder.

"Perfect.", I said sarcastically and began walking, Elsa following along.

I could hear the sound of rolling echoing against the halls. Either it was still rolling or someone had it. With my type of terrible luck, it was probably the latter. I just hoped it wasn't a teacher, the last thing I needed was getting me or Elsa in trouble.

It turned out that it was someone, but I was surprised that it was Jack who had it. It sure made me wonder just how fast Marshall drove to get back to school in record time, like didn't they just leave?

"Anna!", Marshall said cheerfully walking beside Jack who was on the skateboard.

"Hey sis.", Jack said with his face scrunched up in concentration as he did his best to not fall over. It was clear to see he didn't have his sister's skill.

Elsa just waved lightly with her left hand, not saying anything.

"I thought you said you would be late.", I said to Marshall.

She chuckled. "Yeah, but I kind of got pulled over by Dad, so he took Olaf himself.", She informed me and then her smile faded. "And I'll be grounded for a while."

"Pulled over?", I said and she nodded. "Wait, you're dad's a cop?"

"Yeah, didn't I tell you?", I shook my head. Marshall sighed with slightly pink cheeks. "Well, he is and he was the one to catch me. How embarrassing."

"Uh, I think he was the embarrassed one, his face was tomato red.", Jack said with a smirk. "While daddy dearest was lecturing you, I overheard his cop buddy laughing."

"Shut up.", Marshall said half-heartly. "It's not my fault."

"Sure.", Jack said laughing. "Anna, I wish you had been there."

"I do as well.", I smirked and Marshall groaned. "I wonder how Kristoff and Steve will react to this news.", I could already imagined their faces. Kristoff would especially get a kick out of this.

"Ha ha.", Marshall said sarcastically with rolling eyes. "Tell them and I will make you die a painful death.", She warned chuckling.

I laughed. "Sure you will."

"Don't mock me, Anna.", She said, still smiling. "I'm a force not to be reckon with."

"Where did Elsa go?", Jack suddenly asked, looking behind me.

"Huh?", I looked next to me, but the blonde was nowhere in sight. "When did she slip away?"

Marshall shrugged. "She's probably a part time ninja.", She suggested smiling. "Or an undercover ninja, that sounds way cooler."

Jack laughed. "With all her secrets, I wouldn't be surprised."

I didn't find that funny, not really. It just made guilt burst through my insides. It bugged me that she slipped away, sure, but she tended to do that. What really bothered me was that I had failed to notice her leaving. This just went to show what a terrible friend I was.

* * *

"Pencils down.", Mr. Oaken's voice gently pulled me out of my train of thought. I had finished a couple minutes ago, so I was just double checking my work. I think I had a chance a getting a B minus. Given my situation, I preferred an A, but this was better than an F so I was no position to complain. "Just leave you test on the desks and I'll pick them up. I should have your results in maybe two weeks?"

"Why so long", A girl whose name I didn't know asked.

"Well, it's a written test and this isn't my only class.", Mr. Oaken explained. "Plus we have a lot of teacher meetings in the coming weeks." The bell rung, signaling it was time to head to my next class. "Have a great weekend everyone!"

I nodded gathered my things. I looked at my closed test booklet, all I could do now was pray for the best. With that, I got up and left. I think I would have felt better about this if I had taken up Elsa's offer to help me before hand. Either way, I knew declining her offer was the right choice, just not the smart one for my sake.

Elsa had looked different during the test. It didn't go unnoticed by me the fact that she kept do a lot of erasing on her paper. Maybe she was distracted by what she had told me earlier, who wouldn't be. But the guilt from earlier was still lingering in me. So naturally, I felt like I was the distraction and if she got anything from a perfect score, it would be my fault.

During the middle of class, they called her into the office for no reason. She had finished quickly, so she had left as soon as she had been called. Duke, being a total turd, made rude comments, something pillheads as soon as she was out the door and out of overshot. But it didn't matter because I knew Elsa would never do anything and Duke was a damn coward.

It did make me wonder if Elsa really was on pills, but it was none of my business. Besides, they were just rumors, and half the time, they were way off. The rumor mill couldn't even agree on an answer on why Elsa had a number on all her clothing, so why should they be taken seriously? But damn were they entertaining to hear though.

When I got to locker room, I quickly changed into my forest green shirt and black shorts. I didn't like being in the locker room long, it kind of brought back nasty memories. I also just recently noticed that being alone in here made me a tab uneasy.

_Time for another running day_, I thought to myself. I headed out to the gym. Even though all we did was run out on the track, we still met up in the gym with the cool AC before going outside. Mr. Smith could be so cruel sometimes. When I got there, I walked over to Steve who talking with a group of grils.

"Hey Steve.", I greeted.

He smiled with way too happy. "Hi Anna. Guess what the good news is."

"Hmm...", I asked, wondering what he was so happy about. "They finally found the poor sucker that did the vandalism?"

"No, and I don't think they will.", Steve said with a disappointed tone, but his face was still all smiles. "The news is that Smith's been getting serious complaints."

"So...", I thought of the possibilities, but only home hit home. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

"Only you're thinking no running torture today like the we're the cross country running team.", He said smiling.

"You're joking.", I said in disbelief and he shook his head. "I think I just found the highlight of my day.", I said with a bright face.

"Right?!", He said in agreement.

"Line up maggots!", Mr. Smith's voice echoed loudly against the gym walls.

"That's our cue.", Steve said smirking and I nodded.

It was easy to find my place in line. I was at the very front, it was result of having a first and last name that both started with the letter A in an alphabetical line. Steve was way towards the back because of the R in his last name. Once roll was taken, he made us all sit in the bleachers. I think he had something important to say.

"As you all know, someone destroyed school property and it made me angry.", He started. "That being said, it is my intend on finding the culprit no matter what it takes, but we've got whiners in here. And they complained to mommy and daddy about how horrible Mr. Smith is.", He sneered.

"Yeah!", Some idiot yelled.

The gym teacher ignored it. "So unfortunately today is not gonna be as tough as I would like it to be.", He really did sound disappointed about it, no kidding. "So we're gonna play a lovely game of dodgeball with these rubber balls the P.E. department recently purchased, it's a good old classic game."

Just when I thought it was getting good, he brings this bullshit. I wasn't a fan of the sport, I get hurt, it's a simple fact. Maybe I wouldn't be panicking if the majority of the guys weren't so excited at the prospect of throwing balls at each other, especially when that's the object of the game. I was so dead. Steve looked just as nervous as me, being a guy, he'll probably be a more likely target.

"Well get going maggots!", Mr. Smith yelled and we headed out to the middle of the court.

Once the game got started, it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. It was nice and simple except for this big guy who was throwing them way too hard for my liking. I was pretty sure that if I got hit with one of those, it wouldn't be pretty.

And just thinking about it, I must have jinxed it because the next thing I knew, it was hurriedly flying straight to my face.

_Bang!_

The sound was loud enough to echo and make Mr. Smith blow his whistle. But it was too late, the damage was done. I fell down again and it hurt, but it was nothing compared to where I got hit. There was warm heat and sharp pain that was spreading all over my face, centering around my nose. I couldn't even touch it with how tender it was. I felt like crying and I did. I would have stopped if I could, but I incapable of it. Salty tears started flowing down from my tear ducts. And to top all this shit up, a hot metal tasting liquid that pouring down from my nostrils.

I shut my eyes and quickly brought my shirt up to my face to stop the bleeding. I nearly shrieked at that pain of making contact with my face, it double what I was already feeling. From lifting my shirt up, I think I was flashing my stomach and possibly my bra as well, but as long as it stopped the bleeding, I couldn't care less.

"Rupert you fucking asshole!", I heard Steve say angrily nearby. Suddenly arms were around my shoulders pulling me up. "Come on Anna.", He said gently and started guiding me out.

I didn't say anything, I didn't want to. By now, I was sure most of my shirt was a bloody mess and it sadden me more than my possibly broken nose. Partly because this was my second shirt getting destroyed, let's face it, the blood stains wouldn't be washing off. The first one had literally cracked from someone's ice prank. And now this one was gonna be stained forever. I wondered what tragedy will happen to my third one, maybe it'll catch fire. With my luck, it was a real possibility.

I had my eyes closed, but I opened eyes when I heard a door opening. It didn't take a genius to figure out where Steve had taken me. Inside was Ms. Connors sitting on a chair with a click board talking with Elsa who was sitting on the patient bed. So they were right about Elsa being sent here.

"Hey you-", She halted when she saw my not so pretty state. "Oh boy.", She said and immediately got up. "Sit her on the bed.", She ordered. "Elsa get a towel."

Elsa did as told and hurriedly went to the cabinet on the other side of the room as I sat on the bed.

"I'm gonna have to ask you head back to class.", Ms. Connors said addressing Steve.

He looked like he wanted to protest, but decided against it. I think he saw there was nothing for him to do other than bring me here. And I was sure he wanted to go yell at that Rupert guy some more. Steve sighed in anger and nodded. "You're gonna be okay Anna."

I wanted to reassure him, but I was afraid I would start sobbing if I opened my mouth. I knew myself well enough. Steve seemed to understand though. He nodded and left without another word. He was a very level headed person, but I was still afraid he would do something stupid with a that Rupert asshole. It wasn't worth it.

"Anna.", The nurse said gently and I turned my bloody face to her. "I need you to remove your hands."

Funny how that was the last thing I wanted. Though I knew I was being an idiot and I wasn't making this easier for her, I shook my head. I had my reckless history of resisting the doctors and nurses who wanted to help me. This was especially true when there was blood involved.

"Come on. I need to see it.", She was talking to me like one would to a child and I sure felt like one. The scarred little kid in me wasn't brave.

Then I felt extremely cold hands on my both my wrists, I was met with bright blue irises. She began bringing my hands down. "Don't fight it.", She ordered and my hands were brought down, despite not wanting to. I didn't why I listened to Elsa. Call me a weirdo, but she made me feel better. That was the only way I could put it. "Stay calm.", Her voice, there was something about it as well. It was confident and reassuring, everything I wasn't at the moment.

I felt blood trickling down, this is hard. I resisted the urge to cover my face again. But it wasn't because of the bleeding, it was because I felt so expose and naked under their watchful eyes, especially Elsa's. I closed my eyes and pretended they weren't staring. It was hard to so because I was highly aware of Elsa's hands holding me. I decided to focus on that instead.

"It looks a lot worse than it is.", Ms. Connors finally said after a long minute. I sigh in relief, it was comforting news. "Not broken, though he gave it his best shot, did he?"

I felt a washcloth on my face. "Definitely gonna bruise though. But hey, it could be way worse.", Ms. Connors said softly as she cleaned up my mess of a face. "Elsa, can you get some ice?"

"Sure.", Elsa replied and left to the freezer on the other side of the room. Why is everything so far. I found myself missing her cold hands, but I pushed that thought to the back of my mind. "We're all out."

"Well this has been a whole lot harder.", Ms. Connors chuckled as she continued to wipe the blood away. "Can't let you into the storage room, or else they'll be all over my case, but I can't leave you alone either. Decisions, decisions.", She murmured to herself. "Anna, hold it like this.". She ordered gently.

I slowly brought my hand up and held it like she said.

"Perfect pressure.", She said smiling. "I'll be right back. Elsa stay with her."

Too soon for my liking, she was out. As the stringing continued on my face, it just occurred to me that I might have the ball's print on my face. Another wave of embarrassment washed over me. This is not my day at all.

Elsa was sitting next to me, studying my face. "It's really could be worse, you know.", At least she's trying make me feel better.

"How would you know?", I managed to ask despite throbbing stinging.

"I've had my fair share of injuries.", Elsa murmured with a bitter expression. "It hurts more to straighten it out."

I felt imaginary pain at the thought of it. It really could be worse. I suddenly felt better about my nose. "How did you get hurt?", I was curious about her again.

"I fell a lot.", She said simply. I knew it was a lie, Elsa doesn't fall. But I let it slide.

When Elsa handed me a tissue, I realized that I was still crying. I would be really cool if I had perfect control of my body. Because if I did, I wouldn't be bleeding and I definitely wouldn't be crying my eyes out.

"Thank you.", I said and wiped my eyes. I hated crying. This was result of being an ugly crier, you know, the kind that has snot running down their nose. And the uncontrollable sobbing was the worse of it, you can't get a word out.

At least the pain was fading, leaving behind a trail of heat. I was sure I was a red mess, and my ginger colored hair wasn't helping. I hope Ms. Connors hurries up with that ice, I could really use it.

"Here.", Elsa said and brought her hands to my face. Her cold fingers gently pressed against my throbbing skin. That didn't just feel nice, it felt amazing. Elsa had magic hands.

"Why are you so cold?", I asked curious.

"It's uh…", Elsa trailed, thinking of the right thing to say "It's a medical condition.", Elsa answered slowly, almost afraid. She shifted her cool hands gently to my almost broken nose. "It's convenient sometimes."

I thought back to when Abby hit her and of how red her pale cheek was. Was this was how she took care of herself his whole time. "I can imagine."

Elsa pursed her lips and moved her hands to the bridge of my nose, taking extra care.

"How come you're here?", I asked to keep conversation going. I had made it my mission to prevent awkward silences. Plus, talking was a great distraction from my nose.

She shrugged. "I talk to Ms. Connors."

"Oh yeah.", I said. I shifted how I was sitting so I could face her. I hadn't realized I practically leaning against her. I mentally shook that off, it wasn't important. "About what?"

Elsa removed her hands from me. "Stuff.", Her voice turned sharp.

"Okay.", I said, taking it as a sign to back off.

"I'm back!", Ms. Connors suddenly walked through the door carrying two bags of ice. A really small one and big one.

"Can you please store it Elsa?", She asked and Elsa nodded and got up to get the big bag. She was like her personal assistant. She reminded me of the of the kids that were always helping the teachers with errands, like making copies or handing papers out.

"Has the bleeding stopped?", She asked me.

I took off the washcloth, there was a lot of blood on it. It was like a I had a nose period. Ew. Never mind, that was a gross way of looking at it. It had slowed, but it was still going. "Nope."

Ms. Connors her purse lips. "Darn, oh well. Just hold this over...", She tenderly placed the ice where Elsa's cold hands were earlier. "We're just gonna iced it and leave it alone for a while, all of this will fade before you know it."

"Thanks.", I said. So I got to play the waiting game, great.

"Oh Anna.", Ms. Connors said to get my attention. "Your mom's in the front office battling the office people, so be ready for that."

"That was fast.", I murmured.

"Yeah I know.", She smiled. "She mentioned being on her way home from work when they called her, so that's probably why."

I sighed. Okay this was gonna be ugly again. Don't get me wrong, I loved my mother more than anything. I just hated making her worry, it a pet peeve of mine. I silently wished she would have taken longer to get here so I could get myself cleaned up. My shirt was soaked with my stupid bright red blood and even though I wasn't crying, not really, I still had a couple tears leaking out. Finding one's kid in a condition like this was every parents' nightmare, not to mention my mother was already over protective as it was.

"Anna!", The door opened, my mother frantically bursting in.

I tired to put on a smile. "Hi Mom-", Too soon, she had me in her embraced. She was definitely worried, nice going Anna, I chuckled. Making sure I still had a pressure on my nose, I wrapped my arms around her as well. One thing I could was that I loved hugging her and she gave the best hugs. "It's not as bad."

"That's what they all say.", She smiled as she let me go and turned to Ms. Connors. "So who do I have to yell at?"

"Ug...", Ms. Connors nervously pushed her glasses up. "It's not exactly my department. You could try the principal.", She meekly suggested.

My mother sighed and nodded. "Alright.", She said and turned to me. "I arranged for a doctor to look at you, so let's get this over with."

It seemed to me that my mother always had a game plan, . "It's just blood.", I said getting up. "Bruised, but not broken."

"Nice try, you're not getting out of it.", My mother smirked with hazel eyes. She knew I hated doctor visits. It wasn't that I was scared, it was just that they made big fusses over nothing. "Let's go."

I groaned and regrettably headed out with her. We were halfway through the door when I remembered a certain blonde. Elsa was sitting on one of the chairs looking at the wall as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. She was putting her gray gloves back on, maybe this was the last time I would see her hands. unless she lost them, but one could only hope.

"Thanks.", I felt like I should have said more, but I couldn't come with any words other than that. Regardless, I felt like it was the right thing to say. Sometimes a simple thank you is all that needs to be said.

For a second I think I saw her eyes light up. "You're welcome."

I nodded and with nothing left for me here, I headed out. For one reason or another, I turned back at the last minute in time to see something out of this world. Maybe it was my imagination and it probably because of all the blood I lost and I was a little light headed, but I think I saw Elsa smile for the first time. It was simple and weak, but a smile none the less. But then it was gone and my last thought was how beautiful she looked.

* * *

**A/N: This was supposed to go up a week ago, but I've been having internet issues. Anyway, thanks for reading.**


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